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HOME GEOGRAPHY 

GEEATER NEW YORK EDITION 



_^^^^>s:o. 



TARR AND McMURRY GEOGRAPHIES 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



GREATER NEW YORK EDITION 



BY 



RALPH S. TARR, B.S., F.G.S.A. 

PROFESSOR OF DYNAMIC GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 
AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



FRANK M. McMURRY, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING AT TEACHERS 
COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



WITH MANY COLORED iVAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 
CHIEFLY PHOTOGUAI'IIS OF ACTUAL SCENES 



Weto fork '"" ^ 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1903 

All rights reserved 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

OCT t 1903 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS ^ XXc. No 

^ ^ ^^ 1 ^^' 

COPY 3. 



rA' 



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Copyright, 1903, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Wortoaciti ijprfsa. 

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., D.S.jV- 



PREFACE 



This is the first of a series of geographies; the more 
advanced treatment deals at greater length with the 
world and its inhabitants. Since Part I of the present 
volume is a radical innovation, it perhaps needs an 
explanatory foreword. 

Necessity of Home Geography. — The final basis for 
all study of geography is actual experience. Yet text- 
books on that subject rarely treat Home Geography at 
all, and those that do, devote but few pages to it. This 
subject should, we think, receive far more careful attention. 

Necessity of Other Basal Notions. — Home experi- 
ence alone, however, cannot offer a complete basis for the 
later study of geography, because no one locality presents 
all the features required. From this it happens that the 
best books have contained some definitions and illustra- 
tions, as of mountain, river, valley, harbor, and factory, 
and have planned to build the later text with the ideas 
these gave as a foundation. Such conceptions are cer- 
tainly necessary in the early part of geography ; but mere 
definitions fail to produce vivid, accurate pictures. The 
average pupil who has pursued geography for a year, has 
little notion of the great importance of soil, of what a 
mountain or a river really is, of the value of good trade 
routes, and why a vessel cannot find a harbor wherever 



Vi PREFACE 

it will cast anchor along the coast. Yet such ideas are 
the proper basis for the study of geography in the higher 
grades. The fact that they are so often wanting is proof 
that our geography still lacks foundation. 

How THESE Needs ake met. — The first 110 pages of 
this volume attempt to supply this foundation by treating 
first, such common things as soil, hills, valleys, industries, 
climate, and government, which are part of every child's 
environment ; and secondly, other features, as mountains, 
rivers, lakes, and the ocean, which, though absent from 
many localities, are still necessary as a preparation for 
later study. Definitions, however, are not relied upon 
for giving the child this extra knowledge, but detailed 
descriptions and discussions instead. This by no means 
involves neglect of the child's own environment from the 
time the unfamiliar matter is introduced, for through- 
out the geographies home experiences are frequently 
used. We believe that our plan gives a fuller guarantee 
of fitness for advanced study than has heretofore been 
furnished. 

Relationship to Mankind. — According to the defi- 
nition of geography, — which treats of the relation be- 
tween man and the earth, — a hill or a lake is worthy 
of mention only because it bears a relation to us, the 
men upon the earth ; considered by itself it is not a part 
of geography. Therefore each chapter which takes up 
one of the above subjects, either closes with the bearing 
of the given topic upon mankind, or it deals with the 
human relationship throughout. 

Earth as a Whole. — ^The most difficult portion of 
our task has been that which presents the Earth as a 
Whole. That a bird's-eye view should be given at an 



PREFACE Vii 

early period in tlie child's instru<3tion is not questioned ; 
but it is not easy, in limited space, to support the prin- 
cipal facts with sufficient detail to produce vivid and 
interesting pictures. The authors have found that some 
topics commonly included in the early study, such, for 
instance, as latitude and longitude, should be postponed. 
They have also found that many other minor subjects 
usually presented are comparatively irrelevant to the 
geographical knowledge necessary to a pupil. By setting 
these aside for the time, space has been secured for a 
physiographic basis, and for a fairly close sequence in 
tracing the effects of physical conditions upon plants and 
animals, and also upon mankind. Throughout each chap- 
ter much care has been taken to present a closely related 
chain of thought, and at the same time to keep the leading 
facts in their proper foreground. 

Suggestions for Further Home Study. — A study 
of books alone can never furnish an adequate knowl- 
edge of geography. Therefore it has been thought ex- 
pedient to add numerous suggestions at the end of each 
section, in order to remind both teacher and pupil of 
suitable excursions, experiments, etc., and to show at the 
same time the breadth of the subject. In this way physi- 
cal activity — the love of exercise — may be employed 
in the service of the study, and a habit of investigating 
thb home environment encouraged. 

Frequent Reviews. — Believing in the value of fre- 
quent reviews, the authors have suggested review material 
in frequent comparisons and contrasts, and in introduc- 
ing new topics through others that have already been pre- 
sented. This method has been used throughout this book, 
and in the more advanced treatment. 



viii PREFACE 

Maps. — The succeeding volumes in the series are not 
much larger than the present one. Our reasons for this 
marked innovation are that the old form is both unneces- 
sary and unwieldy. The main excuse for the size of the 
common geography is the supposed need of large maps, a 
need which should be supplied by atlas and wall maps. 
This supposed requirement has led to the introduction of 
so many names, entirely unnecessary to pupils, that the 
purpose of a school book has generally been sacrificed to 
that of a cheap atlas. Why should a map, intended for 
school children, contain such Servian names as Valievo, 
Kragouy^vatz, Ushitze, and Kruchevatz, four neighboring 
words upon an overcrowded map in one of the much-used 
geographies? Such piling up of names, which carry no 
meaning to the pupil and are distinguished by no idea, 
merely distract attention from the important names and 
features. Aside from that, the old form of geography is 
distinctly objectionable because of its size, which makes 
it difficult to handle and to carry. When open, it occu- 
pies nearly the entire surface of the desk ; and, being so 
unwieldy, it is the most easily damaged of all the school 
books in use. 

The most pertinent inquiry in regard to the maps of 
a text-book of geography should refer not to their size, 
but to their quality. In respect to the excellence of maps 
we challenge comparison. We believe that our maps are 
the best thus far printed in an American geography. 
While thoroughly artistic, they cause the essential fea- 
tures to stand out with surprising distinctness. Contrary 
to the usual custom, the politica;! maps include the prin- 
cipal physical features, so that any place is always seen 
in connection with its physiographic surroundings. The 



PREFACE IX 

colors have been so selected as to secure harmony, and at 
the same time to show the boundaries clearly. Unimpor- 
tant names are excluded, even where space might have 
permitted their introduction ; and, to an unusual degree, 
the size of print is proportionate to the importance of 
places, so that the names of leading divisions, cities, etc., 
can be distinguished at a glance. 

Illustrations. — The illustrations have been selected 
with great cars to illustrate specific points ; and for the 
sake of accuracy, photographs have in most cases been 
employed. They are not inserted merely for the purpose 
of entertainment, but in every case bear a direct relation- 
ship to the text. They are not intended as mere pictures, 
but as illustrations ; and being numbered and referred to 
frequently, they pay for their space by contributing mate- 
rially to the book's fund of instruction. 

Acknowledgments. — The photographs have been ob- 
tained from many sources ; the globe drawings were made 
by Mr. Murray of the Matthews-Northrup Co. ; and the 
other drawings were mostly prepared by Mr. C. W. Fur- 
long, instructor in Cornell University. The maps have 
been prepared by the Matthews-Northrup Co. of Buffalo, 
who have obtained an enviable reputation as map engravers 
for the Century Atlas. 

The authors of this book are responsible for any short- 
comings that it may prove to have. They have had the 
benefit of much criticism of the best sort. Space does 
not permit them to refer to each one who has kindly 
extended aid; yet mention should be made of the ex- 
ceedingly valuable criticisms and suggestions of Mr. 
Philip Emerson of the Cobbet School, Lynn, Mass. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAET I. HOME GEOGEAPHY 

The Soil 
Hills 

Mountains r 
Valleys . 

ElVERS , 

Ponds and Lakes . 

The Ocean 

The Air . 

Industry and Commerce 

Government . 

Maps 



Section I. 
Section II. 
Section III. 
Section IV. 
Section V. 
Section VI. 
Section VII. 
Section VIII. 
Section IX. 
Section X. 
Section XI. 
References to Books, etc. 



PAGE 
1 

10 
17 
28 
39 
53 
62 
71 
81 
92 
102 
108 



PAET II. THE EAETH AS A WHOLE 

Section I. Form and Size of the Earth . . ... . Ill 

Its Form, 111. Size of the Earth, 113. 
Section II. Daily' Motion of the Earth and its Results . 115 
The Axis and Poles, 115. The Equator, 116. Gravity, 
116. Sunrise and Sunset, 117. Day and Night, 117. 

Section III. The Zones o . . 120 

Boundaries of the Zones, 120. Torrid Zone, 121. Tem- 
perate Zones, 121. Frigid Zones, 122. Hemispheres, 123. 
Section IV. Heat within the Earth and its Effects o . 124 
Heat in Mines, 124. Melted Rock, 125. The Earth's 
Crust, 125. Cause of Mountains, 125. Cause of Conti- 
xi 



xii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 
NENTS AND OcEAN BaSINS, 126. ChANGE IN THE LeVEL OF 

THE Land, 126. 
Section V. The Continents and Oceans ..... 128 
Land AND Water, 128. The Continents, 129. NoETii Amer- 
ica, 129. South America, 129. Eurasia, 130. Africa, 

133. Australia, 133. "The Oceans, 134. The Arctic 
AND Antarctic, 134. The Atlantic, 134. The Pacific, 

134. The Indian, 134. The Ocean Bottom, 134. Moun- 
tains IN the Oceans, 135. Coral Islands, 136. 

Section VI. Maps 137 



PART III. THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

Section I. Topography ......... 139 

Section II. The Land and Water Forms .... 143 

Section III. The Harbor and the Water Front . . . 148 

Section IV. Streets and Avenues ...... 154 

Transportation, 157. 

Section V. The People and how they live . . . 162 

Section VI. Places of Interest ...... 169 

Section VII. The History of our City ..... 173 



LIST OF MAPS 

FIGURE FACING PAGE 

91. To ILLUSTRATE THE MEANING OF MaPS .... 107 

119. The Hemispheres - . . 137 -^ 

120. Mercator Map of the World ...... 137 u-' 

121. Railroad Map of Manhattan and The Bronx . On page 138 

122. The City of New York 139 >^ 



Paet I 
HOME GEOGRAPHY 



o»ic 



I. THE SOIL 

YoTJ have often played in the dirt. Did you ever stop 
to think what it is made of? It was hot always what it 
now is. You know that the wood in your desk was not 
always a part of the desk ; it used to be part of a tree, 
and has a long story to tell about itself before it was 
brought to your school. So all the dirt or soil that 
you have ever seen has a long story to tell about how 
it became what it is now. Let us see what that story 
is. 

When mud dries upon your hands and you rub them 
together, you can notice an unpleasant, gritty feeling. 
This is caused by the scraping together of hard bits of 
something in the soil. If you rub some of this dirt 
against a smooth piece of glass, you can often hear it 
scratch the glass. This shows that these little bits must 
be very hard, for if they were not, they could not scratch 
anything so hard as glass. They must be even harder 
than a pin, for you cannot scratch glass with a pin. 

It will help you to find out what these bits are if you 
examine some sand. The grains in it are tiny bits of 
rock, large enough to be clearly seen. When they are 



2 HOME GEOGBAPHT 

rubbed against glass, they scratch it, because they are 
hard and sharp. 

Sand is made of rock that has been broken up into 
very fine pieces. Soil is also made of rock, but the 
pieces are finer still. The soil that you have seen, such 
as that in the schoolyard, or by the side of the walk, was 
once rock. 

Soil has heen made from rock. 

Since soil is found almost everywhere, you may wonder 
how so much rock has been changed to it. The answer is 
not hard to find. Did you ever pound a brick up into 
bits until you made brick-dust? You can change a stone 
to dust in the same way. Break one into small bits and 
see how much it resembles dirt. 

Sometimes one sees men drilling holes into stone ; the tiny pieces 
that are broken off collect in and round the hole, and look much like 
dirt. When a grindstone is used to sharpen tools, small pieces of the 
stone are ground off, and if water is poured upon it, this dust makes 
the water muddy, just as soil would. 

Much rock has been changed to dirt by the rubbing of 
pieces of stone against one another. In this way tiny 
bits have been worn off, as chalk is worn away when 
rubbed against the blackboard, or slate pencils against the 
slate. Perhaps some of the dirt that you have seen has 
been made in this manner. Later you will learn about 
the glaciers wliich have caused much of this rubbing. 

The grinding of rochs together has made much soil. 

But this is not the only way in which rock has been 
changed into soil. Much of it has decayed and fallen to 
pieces as wood does. You know that, after a long time, 
stumps of trees, and the boards in sidewalks, grow so 



THE SOIL 




Fig. 
A decaying stump of a tree. 



soft that they fall to pieces. Perhaps you have called 

it rotting, but this means the same as decaying. The 

picture (Fig. 1) shows such a 

stump. 

Other things even harder 

than wood decay in. much the 

same way, although perhaps 

more slowly. Hard nails, at 

first bright and shiny, decay 

until they become a soft, yel- 
low rust. Iron pipes and tin 

pails rust until holes appear in 

them and they leak. 

You may not have thought that stones also decay, but 

they do. The headstones 
in old graveyards are 
often so crumbled that 
the letters can scarcely be 
read, and sometimes the 
stones have even fallen 
apart. The decay of rock 
may also be seen in old 
stone buildings, boulders, 
and rock cliffs. Have you 
ever noticed this ? 

Soil has heen formed, 
also, by the decay of 
rocks. 

There are several things 

that help to cause this decay. 

All rocks have cracks in them 

(Fig. 2). Usually some of these are so large that they can be plainly 

seen; but there are many others so tiny that they cannot be seen 




Fig. 2. " 

A rocky cliff containing many cracks. 
Point to some of them. 



HOME GEOGBAPHT 



without a magnifying glass. When it rains, the water steals into 

them, and by eating and rotting the rock, very slowly changes it to 

a powder. 

The water may also freeze in these cracks and pry the stone apart. 

If you have seen iron water pipes, or water pitchers, burst in cold 

weather, you know how this is done. Some of the pieces of rock 

pried off in this way are very small, others quite large (Fig. 3). 

Plants help the 
water in this 
work. In search 
of food they push 
their hair - like 
roots into the 
cracks, and there 
remain until they 
grow so large 
that they also pry 
off pieces. 

The earth- 
worms that you 
may often see 
after a heavy rain 
also help in crum- 
bling the rock. 
In order to get 

food, they take soil into their bodies and grind the coarse bits together 

until they become very fine. 

Water stealing into the cracks causes roch to decay 

and crumhle. Plants and earthworins also help to break 

it up. 

Rock changes to soil most rapidly near the surface ; 
for the rain, roots of plants, and earthworms can reach 
it more easily there than elsewhere. So the deeper into 
the earth one goes, the less the rock is changed (Fig. 4); 
and, no matter where you live, if you should dig deep 
enough, you would come to solid rock, 




Fig. 3. 

Pieces of rock broken from a cliff by the weather. Can 
you also see the cracks in the rock of the cliff? 
Find some broken pieces in Fig. 2. 



THE SOIL 




Fig. 4. 

A section, as if the earth were sliced through, like a loaf of bread, so that the 
part below the surface is seen. Tell what you see in this picture. Notice 
the roots of the tree on the left side. 

Fig. 5 shows soil about one and one-half feet deep. 
Sometimes there is much more than this, and men may 




Fig. 5. 
A picture showing solid rock beneath the soil. Notice the cracks in the rock. 



6 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

even dig deep wells without finding rock ; but in many 
places there are only a few inches of soil, or, sometimes, 
not even enough to hide the rock. 

One reason for such differences in the depth of soil is that some 
rocks decay more easily than" others. Another reason is that in some 
places the rain washes the bits away as fast as the rocks crumble. 
This may leave the rock quite bare in one place and make the soil 
very deep in another. 

There is solid roch heneath all soil. 

How different it would be if no rock had ever changed 
into soil ! There could then be no grass, flowers, or trees 
around your home, because they grow by means of the 
food that they get from the soil. 

Without grass there could be ho cattle, horses, or sheep ; 
in fact, few animals such as are found upon the land could 
live ; for what would they eat ? What, then, could you 
yourself find to eat ? There would be no vegetables, no 
bread, butter, and milk, and no meat. You see that, if 
there were no soil, few people could live ; so that the 
dirt under our feet is a very valuable substance. 

Without soil, few plants, animals, or people could live 
on the land. 

Soil is needed by plants because it holds water. They 
become thirsty as well as you. Where the dirt is only 
a few inches deep, it may dry out on hot summer days, 
and then the plants die ; but where it is deep, the roots 
may reach down several feet till they find damp earth. 

It is surprising how long the roots of some small plants are 
(Fig. 6). For example, the clover in the picture is less than a foot 
high, but its roots are longer than you are tall. They reach so deep 
down that even in dry weather the clover is green while other plants, 
with shorter roots, are withered and dry. Some trees push their roots 



THE SOIL 



down a greater distance still. Can you find out how long the roots 
of any weeds are ? 

The soil holds food, as well as water, for plants. In it 
is found something which plants need, and which they 
take up through their roots ; it 
is a part of the soil itself, and 
is called plant food. Each 
blade of grass and each limb 
of a tree contains some of it ; 
and when a piece of wood is 
burned, some of this food is left 
behind in the ashes. 

Every person even has a quan- 
tity of it in his body ; your 
bones and teeth are partly made 
of it. But you did not take it 
directly from the soil ; the plants 
took it for you, and you received 
it from them in flour and other 
foods that you have eaten. 

Soil furnishes water and food 
to plants. 

All plants do not need the 
same kind of food any more 
than all animals do. Horses 
eat hay and grain, while dogs 
eat meat ; so some plants need 
one kind of food, others another. These different kinds 
of plant food are found in the different kinds of soil, of 
which there are very many. 

For example, some soils are fine, while others are coarse, because 
some rocks have crumbled to finer bits than others. Then, too, there 




Fig. 6. 

Some of the roots of the clover 
that the boy is picking have 
reached out into tlie air 
through the side of the bank. 
They were seeking water. 



8 HOME GEOGRAPHT 

are many kinds of rock, such as granite, marble, and sandstone ; and 
when they decay they make different kinds of soil. ' 

In some places great numbers of plants have grown up and died. 
During their growth they took substances from the air, as well as 
from the soil, and when they died and decayed they returned some 
of these to the soil. These plant remains have become mingled with 
the soil, making it dark and sometimes almost black. In some places 
this dark-colored layer may be several feet deep, as in forests, or in 
swamps, where plants have been growing and decaying for hundreds 
of years. This is an excellent soil for farming, because it produces 
large crops. 

There are many different hinds of soil. 

Soil that lias miicli plant food in it is said to be rich or 
fertile ; if it has little, it is said to be poor or sterile. The 
plants are taking away some of this food; they are really 
robbing the soil. But when weeds and trees fall and 
decay on the spot where they grew, they pay back what 
they took away. In fact, some of this food is returned to 
the earth every autumn when the leaves fall from the trees. 

But if plants are carried away from the spot where 
they grew, there is danger lest fertile land shall be robbed 
of so much plant food that it will become sterile. Now 
this often happens; for farmers send away their wheat to 
make flour, and haul their corn, hay, and oats to market. 
Some farmers have done this for so many years that they 
are no longer able to support their families on their land, 
but have been obliged to move away to find other farms 
where the soil has not been robbed of its plant food. 

The wise farmer takes care to put some plant food back upon the 
soil to pay for what he has taken, so that he may continue to raise 
good crops. That which he puts back upon the soil is called a 
fertilizer, because it keeps the soil fertile. People in the city often, 
use a fertilizer to feed the grass of their lawns and keep it green. 

Fertile soil may he rohhed of its food and become sterile. 



THE SOIL . 9 

Review Questions. — (1) Of what is the soil made? (2) How can 
you show that the little bits in it are hard like rock ? (3) What hap- 
pens when rocks are rubbed together? (4) If you have ever seen 
rocks that were decaying and crumbling, tell about it. (5) How 
does water enter rocks? (6) What happens when water freezes in the 
cracks? (7) What else helps to crumble the rocks and soil? (8) What 
is beneath the soil? (9) Make a drawing, like Figure 4, showing the 
rock beneath the soil. (10) Tell about the depth of the soil. (11) Why 
is there no soil in some places ? 

(12) Why is the soil worth studying? (13) Name two things that 
plants take from it. (14) Of what advantage is a deep soil? (15) Do 
all plants want the same kind of food? (16) What causes the different 
kinds of soil? (17) What has made some soils so black? (18) What 
is fertile soil? (19) Sterile soil? (20) How are some soils robbed of 
their plant food ? (21) What is used to make them fertile once more ? 
(22) Tell what you see in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. 

Suggestions for Study at Home and out of Doors. — 
Here are things, some of ■which, at least, you vrill be able to 
see or do for yourselves : (1) Find a place where men are dig- 
ging a ditch or cellar, to see how the dirt looks below the surface. 
(2) Find a boulder, cliff, old stone wall, or an old headstone in a grave- 
yard, and see if the stone is crumbling. (3) Break some pebbles 
open to see whether or not they are decayed on the outside and 
fresh within. (4) Change a stone to dust. (5) Collect several dif- 
ferent kinds of soil. (6) Plant beans in each kind, at the same time, 
and see in which one they grow best. (7) See what the effect would 
be if no water were given to some of them. (8) Find out what trees 
and vegetables grow best near your home. (9) What do the farmers 
prefer to raise? (10) Go to a hot-house to find out what kind of 
soil is used there, and what is done to keep it fertile. (11) Visit a 
gardener or a farmer to find out how he cultivates the soil. (12) How 
many articles can you name, as crockery, for example, that are made 
of soil or clay? (13) Write a short story about the soil. 

For References, see page 108. 



n. HILLS 



The soil that has been formed from rock has not been 
left smooth and level like a floor. The surface of the 
land is usually uneven or rolling ; and even those places 
which at first sight appear level, are really sloping 
(Fig. 7). Beside such gentle slopes, there are many 




Fig. 7. 

A very level plain ; but since a stream is flowing through it, there must be 

slope. 

others steep enough to allow coasting in winter, and 
others still that are much too steep for this purpose. In 
other words, hills^ some gently sloping, some steep, are 
found almost everywhere upon the surface of the earth 
(Fig. 8). 

These hills have not always been here. Even the ones 
you may have seen and climbed have been slowly made. 
Let us see what has caused them. 

When it rains slightly, the water soaks into the ground 
and disappears; but when there is a heavy rain, all of the 

10 



HILLS 11 

water cannot sink into the soil as rapidly as it falls. Some 
then begins to flow away. One little stream, perhaps 
hardly an inch wide, begins at one point ; another joins 
it ; quickly several of them unite, and soon a good sized 




Fig. 8. 

A picture iu a hilly country. The surface of the lake is level ; but the hills, 
some steep, others gently sloj)ing, are very irregular. 

brook or creek is formed. Have you not noticed this 
flowing water in the school yard, in the roads, and on the 
sides of hills ? 

But did the water flow off without taking something 
with it ? Was it not muddy ? This means that soil had 
become mixed with the water and was being borne away. 
Every heavy rain bears along much soil, cutting out little 
channels, washing out roads, and perhaps even destroying 
the beds of railways, so that trains must stop running for 
a time. 

During such a rain little channels, or valleys^ and tiny 
hills and ridges are carved in the soil (Fig. 9). No 
doubt you have seen these formed very many times. If 
not, you can easily make them by pouring water from a 
sprinkler upon a pile of loose dirt. 

There are many heavy rains every year, and in a life- 
time their number is very large. During many hundreds 
of years, then, the water could wash away an enormous 



12 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



amount of soil and rock which the large streams and 
rivers would carry away to the sea. By this means deep 
valleys have been formed, with hills between them, much 
as the tiny channels in the school yard are cut in the dirt 
by the rain water. 

Then, also, some rocks are not so hard as others, and 
the softer ones, as they break up, are naturally carried 
away faster than those that are harder. This leaves high 
ground where the rocks are hardest. 




Fig. 9. 
Little hills and valleys cut in the soil hy heavy rains. Point to some of them. 

What a change water must have made in the appear- 
ance of the surface of the earth ! No doubt, in the 
very beginning there were hills and valleys ; but every 
year, for thousands of years, these have been slowly 
changing, so that they are now very different from what 
they were long ago. And after many more years they 
will be very different from what they now are, for they 
are even now changing. 

Most hills have heen carved out hy runniTig water. 

In every neighborhood there are hills, although they may not be 
very high. The picture shows one with a somewhat gentle slope 



HILLS 



13 



(Fig. 10). If a person were to walk up this hill, going from its base 
to the top, or summit, he would walk more than a mile ; but this, of 
course, does not mean that the hill is a mile high. 

For example, in 
Figure 11 you see a 
board ten feet long, 
with one end resting 
on the ground and 
the other on a fence 
four feet above the 
ground. If a person 
starts at the lower 
end and walks to the 
upper end, he travels 
ten feet; but he is 
then only four feet 
above the ground. 

The height of a hill is much less than the length of 
its slope. 

Perhaps you have heard that it is colder on the summit, 
or crest, of a high hill than at its base. If one takes a 
thermometer with him when going to the top of the 







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< 


m 


HH 




01 


1 


SEA LEVEL "" "• " 












J 



Fig. 10. 

To show the difference between the slope of a hill 
and its height. 




Fig. 11. 



14 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



Wasliington Monunient (Fig. 85), which is 550 feet high, 
he finds that it is about two degrees colder at the top 
than at the base. One might not notice any difference 
in climbing low hills, but it can be easily noticed on high 
ones ; and if your home is near one, you can prove this. 

People who live where there are high hills often observe 
that it snows upon them while it rains upon the lower 
ground at their base (Fig. 12). Explain why this is so. 

It is colder at the crest of a hill than at its base. 




Fig. 12. 

Do you see any reason for thinking that it is colder near the summit of this 
high mountain than at its base? This is Mount Chimborazo in South 
America, where it is very hot in the lowlands. 

Many people prefer to build their houses upon hills, 
partly because the air is cooler and fresher in summer ; 
biit another and more important reason is, that it is more 
healthful to live on this high ground. Where the land 
is low, the slope is often so gentle that the water cannot 
flow off readily, so it stands, sometimes making wet places 
called swamps (Fig. 33). Houses in such places often 
have cellars and foundation walls that are damp, and the 
people who live in them are in danger of fever, and of 
other kinds of sickness caused by this dampness. 



HILLS 



15 



But the water usually runs quickly away from a hill, 
so that even after a heavy rain the ground soon becomes 
dry. In large cities, where land is very expensive, people 
build almost anywhere ; but in these cities there are so 
many drain pipes, or sewers^ to carry off the water, that 
even the low places are quite dry. 




Fig. 13. 
A castle built upon the brow of a high hill. 

In times past some men were in the habit of building great 
castles, with thick walls, on the crests of hills (Fig. 13). From 
these they could look out over the country for a long distance and 
spy approaching enemies in time to prepare for them. Then, too, 
the steep sides of the hills were difficult for the enemy to climb, so 
that the people living in castles on hilltops were quite safe. 

Some of the Pueblo Indians built their towns upon the tops of 
steep hills in order to be safe from the more savage Indians who 
attacked them. For much the same reason the Puritans, many years 
ago, were in the habit of building their churches upg^i the hilltops. 



16 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

Hills at present are little needed for such a purpose ; but there 
is another reason why people like to live upon them. From their 
tops they can look out over the fields for long distances and enjoy the 
beautiful views. Have you yourself ever enjoyed such a view? 

People like to build their houses upon hills, because 
it is healthful there and the views are beautiful. 

Review Questions. — (1) Is there much land that is really level? 
(2) What do you understand by rolling land ? (3) Were the hills 
that you know always there ? (4) Have you seen water carrying away 
soil? If so, tell about it. (5) Explain how hills have been made. 

(6) What is the base of a hill? (7) The summit ? (8) Tell what 
you learn from Figure 10. (9) From Figure 11. (10) Make a draw- 
ing somewhat like Fig. 11. (11) On what part of a hill is it coolest? 
(12) How could you prove it? (13) Why does it often snow on hills 
while it rains on lower land near by ? 

(14) What is a swamp? (15) Why should not houses be built on 
swampy ground? (16) Why are hills liable to be dry? (17) Why 
is the lowland in cities usually so dry? (18) Why have castles often 
been built on hills? (19) Why did the earlier settlers place their 
churches on hills? (20) What other reasons can people have for 
wishing to look far out over the country ? 

Suggestions for Study at Home and out of Doors. — 
(1) Find some ground about your home that seems nearly level. 
Is it really level ? (2) Where is the longest slope in your neighbor- 
hood ? The steepest one ? (3) Watch the water carrying off soil 
after a rain. Where does the soil go ? (4) Write a story about it. 
(5) Hunt for a washout after a heavy rain. (6) Where is your 
highest hill? (7) In what season of the year is it especially pleasant 
to live on a hill ? Why ? 

(8) Can you find any houses built on low, wet soil? (9) Are 
their cellars ever very damp ? (10) Ask some doctor why one should 
not live in such places. (11) Find some pictures of castles, showing 
their location. (12) Is your schoolhouse upon a hill? (13) Name any 
houses in your neighborhood that stand on a hill. (14) Where is 
your most beautiful view? (15) Do your friends agree with you that 
it is the most beautiful one ? 

For References, see page 108. 



III. MOUNTAINS 

You may never have seen mountains, but you have 
certainly seen something that looks much like them. 
Often, on a summer evening, the sun sets behind great 
banks of clouds that reach far up into the sky. Some of 
them have rough, steep sides, and great, rugged peaks. 




Fig. 14. 
A scene among the White Mountains of New Hampshire. 

while others have more gentle slopes, and rounder tops. 
Oftentimes there are many of them together, and they are 
so real that it seems as if one might climb their sides if 
he could only reach them. 

This is very much the way snow-covered mountains 
appear in the distance ; in fact, the resemblance is so 
close that, when one is at a distance from mountains, he 
must often look carefully to note whether he is looking at 
real mountains, or only at clouds in the sky. 

The mountains in Fig. 14 are much like hills, except 
that they are larger. Hills are seldom more than a few 
c 17 



18 



HOME GEOGBAPHT 



hundred feet high, while these mountains rise two or three 
thousand feet in height. Some mountains are so low, and 

their slopes so 



gentle, that one 
is able to climb to 
their tops with- 
out much trou- 
ble. Such moun- 
tains are often 
called hills. But 
many others are 
even two or three 
miles in height. 
Their peaks rise 
far above the 
clouds and are 
often wholly hid- 
den by them, as 
in Figure 15. 

Usually where 
there is one 
mountain peak there are others near by (Fig. 16). They 
often extend a long distance, perhaps hundreds of miles, 




Fig. 15. 

A mountain peak in Switzerland, with snow on its 
sides and base, and a small cloud hiding the very- 
summit. 




Fig. 16. 
A number of lofty mountain peaks near togetheu 



MOUNTAINS 



19 




forming what is called a mountain chain, or a mountain 
range. 

Such great ranges have not been carved out by running water, 
as hills have been. In fact, real mountains are found only where 
parts of the land have been slowly raised or lowered until some 
portions are much higher than the surrounding country (Fig. 17). 
Among these moun- 
tains, as elsewhere, 
running water has 
of course cut out 
many valleys. 

You can imitate 
mountain folding by 
crumpling a num- 
ber of sheets of pa- 
per. The reason for 
this folding of the 
rock layers will be 
found stated on 
page 125. 

Mountains are masses of roch that have been pushed 
above the level of the surrounding country. 

Men often climb to the tops of mountains. It might 
seem that this Avould not take a very long time, nor be 
very difficult ; but to go to the crest of even a low moun- 
tain is often quite a task. Upon a level road one can 
easily walk a mile in less than half an hour. But it might 
require a whole day of steady climbing to reach the sum- 
mit of a mountain only one mile high. 

It would be a long journey even if one could go in a 
straight line to the top. It has already been stated (page 
13) that to climb a hill two or three hundred feet high 
it is necessary to walk a longer distance than this. The 
same is true of mountains. 



Fig. 17. 

This is a drawing of a mountain range sliced through 
so as to show the layers of rock that have been 
pushed upward. 



20 



HOME GEOGBAPHT 



Most mountains are so steep that one would grow 
very tired climbing directly up their slopes ; so a much 
longer, zigzag path is usually followed. Then, too, there 
are often steep cliffs, ov precipices, that could not be climbed 
(Fig. 18), and one must travel round these to find a place 
where the slope is gentle. This makes the path still 

longer, so that to 
climb a moun- 
tain one mile 
high it might 
be necessary to 
Avalk ten miles, 
or even more. 

If the air is 
colder at the 
crest of a hill 
than at its base, 
one might expect 
that it would be 
very much colder 
on the top of a 
high mountain, 
and this is true 
(Fig. 12, p. 14). 
In fact, it grows 
so much colder 
near the summit 




Fig. 18. 

A mountain precipice in the Yosemite Park among 
the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. No 
one could possibly climb the face of this steep 
rock cliff. 



of the higher mountains that it never rains there, but snows 
instead; and it may even be so cold that trees cannot 
grow there (Fig. 20, p. 23). 

It is a long distance to the top of a high inountain, 
and the air is cold there. 



MOUNTAINS 



21 



Many people cross the ocean to visit the Alps Mountains in Switzer- 
land ; but while they enjoy climbing about on the sides, and looking 
at the beautiful views, very few ever reach the summit of the higher 
peaks. Mont Blanc is one of the best known of these, and is nearly 
three miles in height. (The picture, Fig. 20, shows views of Mont 
Blanc.) 

It is very difficult, and even somewhat dangerous, to climb to the 
summit of this mountain. When a person wishes to do so, he must 
employ guides to help him over the difficult places. 

The round trip usually takes two nights and three days ; as there 
is no place to obtain food high up on the mountain side, it is neces- 
sary to carry it. Overcoats and blankets are also necessary ; for even 
though the journey be made in the hottest summer weather, it will be 
bitterly cold upon the mountain top. 

Suppose that we are making such a journey. We start early in 
the morning so as to have a long day. Each of us carries a few 
light articles, but 
the guides and por- 
ter carry most, for 
they are strong and 
used to climbing. 

At first we walk 
along a pleasant 
path in a beautiful 
wood. A house is 
occasionally passed 
(Fig. 20, G), and 
perhaps a green field. 
But soon there are 
no more houses and 
fields, and the trees 
become smaller and 
smaller, until the 
line is reached above which it is so cold that no trees can grow. 
This is called the tree line or timber line (Fig. 19). 

From this point on, no plants larger than bushes are seen, and after 
a while even these disappear. Meanwhile the soil and the grass have 
become more scarce, while here and there banks of snow are found in 




Fig. 19. 

A picture of the timber line on the snowy slopes of 
a mountain in Colorado. 



22 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

the shady hollows. Soon we have climbed to the snow line. This is 
the line above which snow is found all the year round. Now, no 
matter in what direction we look, rock and snow are everywhere to 
be seen, the latter often being hundreds of feet deep (Fig- 20, F). 

What a beautiful view' before us ! It repays us for all the hard 
work. We look down upon the woods through which we have just 
passed; then, over beyond them, to the deep valleys, with the green 
fields, pretty houses and villages far below us ; and, beyond thesB; 
to the other steep mountains upon the opposite side of the valley. 

The guide takes his place in front of us, and often tells us to 
stop while he goes ahead to examine the way. It may be that the 
snow has bridged over and hidden a deep and narrow chasm, so that 
if one were to step upon this snow he might fall through. 

Sometimes the guides lift one of us over a dangerous place ; and, when 
it is steep or slippery, fasten all the members of the party together 
with ropes (Fig. 20, E), so that if one falls, the others may hold him. 

As we advance higher and higher, it is often necessary to take a 
narrow path on the steep side of the mountain. On the right you 
can look hundreds of feet almost directly downward ; on the left are 
great stones and masses of snow almost directly overhead. 

The snow sometimes falls, forming snow slides or avalanches, 
which are very dangerous. They come tearing down the sides of 
the mountains with a terrible roar, burying whole villages beneath 
them. You have seen the same thing, on a much smaller scale, when 
snow has slid from the roofs of houses on warm winter days. 

After one night spent in a little house about half way up the 
mountain side, and after much hard work on the next day, we 
reach the summit (Fig. 20, A). Here, in spite of our wraps, we are 
all shivering ; for upon high mountain summits there ai'e fierce winds 
which seem to go through even the thickest cloth. 

On this barren mountain top there are no birds, no trees, no grass : 
nothing but snow and rock ; but if it is a clear day, and there are 
no clouds clinging to the mountain sides below, we may be able to 
look down into the beautiful green valleys, only a few miles away. 
There the birds are singing, flowers are blossoming, and men, working 
in the fields, are complaining of the heat. 

It is a difficult and dangerous journey to the top of 
a high mountain. 




Fig. 20. 

Seven photographs taken on a journey to the summit of Mont Blanc. See if 

you can find in these pictures any of the scenes described. 

23 



24 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 




It is by no means so difficult to reach the summits 
of all mountains. Many of them (Fig. 14, p. 17) are 

so low that there 
is no snow upon 
them in summer, 
and trees live and 
thrive even at the 
top. Roads may 
have been made 
to the summit, 
so that one may 
drive up instead 
of walking. 

Among some of 
these mountains 
hotels are built 
(Figs. 21 and 24), 
to which people go in summer to escape the hot weather. 
There they may walk through the woods, and climb to 
many inter- 
esting places, 
where fine 
views are to 
be had. 
Mountains 
are impor- 
tant sum- 
mer resorts. 



Fig. 21. 

A hotel at the base of a lofty mountain at Banff, 
on the Canadian Pacific Kailway, in British Co- 
lumbia, Canada. 



Perhaps 
you already 
know that 
the rocks in- 




FiG. 22. 

Here men are digging gold ore deep in the mountain side. 
The ore is hoisted to the surface and crushed to bits 
in these buildings, so that the particles of gold can be 
separated from the rock. 



MOUNTAINS 



26 




Fig. 23. 

This man is deep down in the earth in an iron mine. He is preparing to load 
the car with ore which other miners have been digging in a tunnel just 
above, on the right-hand side, 

side the mountains sometimes contain gold and silver (Fig. 
22). Iron, lead, and other metals are also found there. 
When they are dug out from the rocks they are ores, which 
do not look much like these metals as we know them. But 
the metal in the rings, watches, and silver dollars that you 
have seen, and even the iron parts of your school desk, may 
have come from the rocks of some mountain (Fig. 23). 

The trees in the mountain forests are also valuable. The most 
common kinds are evergreens, such as the pine, hemlock, and spruce, 
which are green even through the winter, and which can live on the 
cold mountain sides as far up as the timber line. 



26 HOME GEOGRAPHT 

The land upon a mountain side is usually too steep and rocky for 
farms. But even where farms are not possible, trees often grow 
finely, covering the mountain for miles and miles with dense foi-ests. 
This is fortunate, for the trees may be cut down and sawed into 
lumber, from which all sorts of wooden articles are made. Possibly 
the very seat in which you are sitting was once a part of a tree that 
grew on the side of a mountain. 

Mountains are of further use because of the abundance of water 
that they supply. We have already seen that there is much ice and 




Fig. 24. 

The forest on the sides of the White Mountains, New Hampshire. The large 
buildings are the hotels of a summer resort. 

snow upon some of them ; in fact, there is so much upon the higher 
ones that it can never all melt away, no matter how hot the summer 
may be. 

During hot weather many streams dry up ; but at such times the 
ice and snow of the mountains only melt the faster, so that the streams 
which flow forth from these mountains are even more swollen than 
usual. This water may run along for many miles until it finally 
reaches towns and cities where people need it to drink. Do you know 
of any city that gets its drinking water from such a river? 

Mountai^^s furnish metals, liMriber, and water. 



MOUNTAlJSrS 27 

Review Questions. — (1) What can you say about the height 
of mountains? (2) How have they been made? (3) What is a 
mountain chain or range? (4) How long might it take to climb a 
mountain a mile high? (5) Why so long? (6) What can you tell 
about the cold at the summit? (7) How do the trees change in 
appearance as one mounts higher and higher? 

(8) What would you need for a journey up Mont Blanc? 
(9) Describe the first part of the journey. (10) What is the timber 
line? (11) What is the snow line? (12) What are avalanches? 

(13) Describe the view from the top of the mountain. 

(14) Mention some reasons why mountains are favorite summer 
resorts. (15) What kinds of mines are found in mountains ? (16) Why 
is it fortunate that trees grow so well on mountain sides ? (17) What 
is done with them? (18) Tell what you can about the streams that 
flow from mountains. 

Suggestions. — (1) Watch for clouds that resemble mountains. 
Make a drawing of them. (2) Find pictures of mountains; note the 
timber line, the snow line, and other points of interest. (3) Repi'e- 
sent a mountain in sand. Show the tree line ; the snow line ; steep and 
gentle slopes. (4) Represent a mountain range in sand. (.5) In 
what direction are the nearest mountains? AVhat are they called? 
How far away are they? Find out an interesting fact about them. 

(6) Ask some one who has climbed a mountain to tell you about 
it. (7) Would you care to climb one yourself ? Why? (8) Write a 
story relating the adventures you would expect in mountain climbing. 
Describe some of the views you would expect to find. (9) Why do 
few people live high up on the mountain sides? 

(10) Examine a piece of ore (in some museum) and find out how 
the metal is taken from the rock. (11) Start a collection for the 
school by bringing some ores. (12) Hunt for pictures of woods on 
mountain sides. You will find several in this book. (13) Find some 
pictures which show gorges cut in the mountains by running water. 

(14) Find out some facts about glaciers. 
For References, see page 108. 



IV. VALLEYS 




We have seen how water is always washing away soil, 
making hills and changing their appearance. Wherever 

hills are found 
there are al- 
ways low places 
or hollows, and 
these are called 
valleys. 

Some very 
small valleys 
you have al- 
ready seen in 
Figure 9. They 
are only a few 
inches wide, 
and the tiny 
hills or ridges between them are only a few inches high. 

Every stream of water, whether great or small, when 
flowing over soft earth, is carrying some of it away and 
forming valleys. Even when flowing over hard rock, the 
water is doing the same thing, but more slowly. It grinds 
the rock away by dragging pebbles and grains of sand over 
it, thus scouring it out. This work of the water is never 
finished, for every rain is slightly changing the valleys. 

A.re there any valleys in your neighborhood ? Do you 
live in one ? If you have travelled on the railway, you 
have certainly seen many of them. Figs. 11, 14, and 25 

28 



Fig. 25. 
A beautiful stream in a wooded valley. 



VALLEYS 



29 



show valleys. Can you find others in the book ? In Fig- 
ure 25 is shown a small stream with the land on either 
side gently sloping toward it. 

Since there are very few places without slopes and 
hills of some kind, there must be few places without 
valleys. Although some of these are narrow, others are 
so wide that one cannot see across them. 

Wherever two downward slopes come together, a valley is formed, 
whether the slopes be long or short. In those that you can find, 
notice the difference in the slopes. If in one of the valleys there is 
a stream, notice the direction in which it flows. Why does the water 
flow at all ? Which way is down the valley f Point up the valley. 

You see, of course, that valleys have not only width, but length. 
Many of them are only a few inches long, and you can certainly find 
some of these. Perhaps your 
home is in a valley that is 
many miles in length. Find 
out if this is true. 

Most valleys have been 
cut out of the land by 
running water. 

In the picture (Fig. 
26) you see several val- 
leys. Rain falls into each 
of these, some of it sink- 
ing into the soil and some 
running off down the 
slopes. Into which valley will the water flow that falls 
on the top of the ridge ? 

When it rains upon the roof of a house (Fig. 27), the 
water is divided along the highest part, some flowing 
down one side, some down the other. The same thing 
happens when water falls on the land. Because the water 




Fig. 26. 

The dotted lines show the divides be- 
tween the valleys. Trace them. What 
else do you see in the picture? 



30 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



parts, or divides, at the highest place betAveen two valleys, 
this place is called a divide or water-parting, or sometimes a 

watershed. The 
dotted lines in 
the picture 
(Fig. 26) show 
some divides. 
How irregular 
the lines are ! 

A divide some- 
times stands out 
sharply, as on 
the roof of a 
house ; but in 
many places it 
is difficult to 
find, for the 
land there may 
appear to be 




Fig. 27. 

A house roof, to show that the water is divided along 
the highest part. 



flat. Can you point out such a place in Figure 26 ? 

If you wish to know how wide one of these valleys is, where 
would you begin to meas- 
ure ? Would it not be from 
the divide on one side to the 
divide directly across on the 
other side? Of course it 
would, for the divides form 
the boundaries of the valley 
(Fig. 28). 



A divide or ivater- 
shed is the highest 
ground separating two 
valleys. 




Fig. 28. 
The line A-B shows the width of this val- 
ley. Observe that the valley is much 
wider than the stream. 



VALLEYS 



31 



While the valleys that one usually sees are both narrow 
and short, there are some so long and wide that one could 
not travel their whole length or width, even if he were to 
spend all day and all night upon a fast train (Fig. 29). 
In our own country there is such a one, called the Missis- 
sippi Valley, which is over three thousand miles long and 
many hundred miles wide. 




Fig. 29. 
Picture of a river winding through a broad and very long valley. 

When valleys are a_s large as this, their slopes must be 
very gentle. On that account many people who live in 
the Mississippi Valley scarcely know that they are in a 
valley. The river flows through the lowest part, and the 
homes of these people may be so far away that they have 
never seen it. All about them the land appears so level 
that it does not seem to form a part of a slope. It is 



32 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



therefore called a plain. But when rain falls there, it 
immediately flows toward the river, thus proving that 
the plain is a part of the great Mississippi Valley slopes. 

Such an immense valley was not cut out by running 
water. You have learned that hills are made in that way, 
but that mountains are formed by the rising of great masses 
of rock. Some of the great valleys, like the Mississippi, 
have also been made by changes in the level of the land. 
But even the valleys that have been formed in this way 
have generally been greatly changed by the water that 
has run through them. 

Some great valleys have been formed by the rising or 
sinking of the land. 




Fig. 30. 

A valley sliced through to illustrate how valleys may be formed by the fold- 
ing of the rock layers. 

People generally choose the valleys for their homes. 
Even among high mountains, where it is impossible to live 
on the steep and cold sides, they often dwell in the bottom 
of the valleys. Here they are surrounded by lofty peaks 
which appear to shut them in almost entirely (Fig. 31). 

Hills are often too cool, or else have too shallow a soil 
for farming. The rains have washed the dirt down the 
steep slopes into the lower part of the valleys, making a 
deep and fertile soil there. In the valleys, therefore, the 



VALLEYS 



33 




Fig. 31. 
A city near some mines in a valley among the Rocky Mountains. 

best farms are found, with their great fields of corn, oats, 
wheat, and grass. Here, also, cattle and horses are raised, 
(Fig. 32), many large cities have sprung up, and railways 
have been built. 




Fig. 32. 

A herd of cattle grazing on the clover that is growing in the deep, rich soil 
in a valley bottom. 



34 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

Most of the land is really made up of slopes, and we 
are living upon them. It may not seem that your home 
is upon one, but it probably is. Your house may even be 
upon a hill-top, and yet you may be living in a broad 
valley. 

Most people live in some part of a valley. 




Fig. 33. 
A ditch dug to drain a swamp. 

The soil is all the more valuable because of the slopes 
of valleys. Were it not for them the water, after a heavy 
rain, would stand in a thin sheet upon the ground. But 
where there are slopes down which the water can freely 
run, it quickly flows off and does not drown the crops or 
make the region unhealthful for man and animals. 



VALLEYS 35 

The great importance of this matter is shown when farmers buy 
land. One of the first things that they inquire about is drainage, 
that is the slopes, which allow the water to run off quickly. 

If the water does not freely flow away, they even dig ditches in 
order to carry it off (Fig. 33). Sometimes these ditches are left open, 
as in the picture; but, more often, tiles are placed in the bottom, 
forming a kind of pipe, and then the earth is thrown back again. 
The water finds its way into the pipes, through small openings that 
are left for this purpose, and flows away. Good drainage is so im- 
portant that men are often willing to incur great expense in order to 
secure it. 

In some places the land is so nearly level that the 
standing water produces swcmips. There are thousands 
of swamps in this country, and great sums of money are 
spent in digging ditches to drain them. This makes the 
swamp dry ; and since the soil in such places is very fer- 
tile, a great deal of land that was once of little value is 
now changed to rich farms. 

The slopes of valleys are valuable for drainage. 

Valleys have had a great influence upon the roads of a 
country. For instance, in going across mountains men 
generally follow a valley, going higher and higher until 
they come to what is called a mountain pass (Fig. 34), 
which is nothing more than a valley between mountain 
peaks. After crossing this, they go down another valley 
on the other side of the mountain. 

Railroads also cross -mountains through the valleys and 
over the lower passes ; they wind in and out, often mak- 
ing sharp curves in order to avoid cutting directly through 
the rock. 

Even in hilly regions it is usually easier to get from 
one place to another by travelling in the valleys. In the 



36 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



lower parts, near the streams, the land is most nearly level ; 
but as soon as one attempts to go directly across the coun- 
try, the roads become rough and hilly. 

On that account, when white men first came to this 
country, and settled among the hills and mountains, they 
built their roads in the valleys, often quite near the 
streams. Men do the same thing still. 




Fig. 34. 
A mountain pass among the lofty Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Point to it. 

Where the country is more level, as upon a plain, it is 
not so difficult to travel directly forward ; but even in 
such places both the wagon roads and the railways are 
often built round a small hill rather than over it. 

The location of wagon roads and railways depends 
on the valleys- 

We have seen that hills and mountains afford many beautiful views. 
But it is not necessary to go to the mountains to see fine views. 
You may see them in almost any valley or plain. Even a field of 



VALLEYS 



37 




Fig. 35. 

A beautiful New England roadway in Northfield, 
Massachusetts. 



green gi'ass, such as 

may be seen in city 

parks, and in the 

country, is beautiful. 

This is particularly 

true in the early 

spring, after the long, 

cold winter. 

Those who live in 

small towns or cities 

may find streets 

where the trees have 

grown so tall that 

they droop and meet 

overhead (Fig. 35). 

As one looks down 

such a street, he can 

scarcely help exclaiming, " What a magnificent archway ! " 

In the country, also, there are many beautiful sights, such as the 

variously colored fields, the waving grain, the graceful trees, and the 

shady roads. 

The views 
change from 
time to time. 
They are not 
the same at 
noon as in the 
late afternoon 
when the sun 
is casting long 
shadows. In 
the spring the 
plants are fresh 
and bright ; 
in the autumn 
they are pret- 
tily colored ; 
in the winter 




Fig. 36. 

A scene in Boston Common after a heavy fall of damp 
snow. 



38 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

the damp snow clings to the trees, bushes, fences, and houses until 
everything is robed in white (Fig. 36). Again, the rain freezes to 
the trees, and when the sun appears, everything sparkles in the bright 
light as if it were covered with a thousand jewels. 

It is not necessary, then, to travel far in order to find beautiful 
views ; they are to be found everywhere, not only among the moun- 
tains, but on the hills, in the valleys, in the country and in the city. 

The hills, mountains, and valleys are very beautiful. 

Eeview Questions. — (1) What makes the little valleys ? (2) Tell 
why they must change from year to year. (3) Describe some of those 
that you have crossed on the railway. (4) How many slopes are 
necessary to make a valley ? (5) What is a divide ? (6) Tell how 
large some of the largest valleys may be. (7) How have these very 
large valleys been formed ? (8) What is a plain ? 

(9) In what parts of mountains do most people live? Why? 
(10) What is meant by drainage ? (11) How do farmers sometimes 
provide drainage? (12) What is a swamp? (13) Why do roads 
and railways among the mountains follow the valleys? (14) What 
is a mountain pass ? (15) Where is the most level land usually 
found? (16) AVhat fields or yards near you are beautiful ? (17) Are 
there any walks or drives that you greatly enjoy? (18) How do the 
views change from time to time ? 

Suggestions. — (1) Find a tiny valley and watch to see if it is 
changed in any way by a heavy rain. (2) Find a still larger valley 
in your neighborhood. (3) Find the divide on each side of it. 
(4) Show that streets and roads are so made that they have a water- 
shed. (5) Make some valleys in clay or sand and show the divides. 
(6) Where is the largest valley in your neighborhood ? (7) Is your 
home in one of the very large valleys, or in a small one ? (8) Show 
by a drawing like Figure 30 how the largest valleys have been made. 
(9) Can you show it in any other way ? (10) Why should swamp 
land that has been drained raise uncommonly good crops? (11) Do 
you know of any roads or railways that follow valleys and wind about 
the hills? Tell about them. (12) Find some beautiful views in 
your, neighborhood. (13) Make a collection of pictures of valleys. 
(14) Write a story telling how valleys have been formed. 

For References, see page 109. 



V. RIVERS 



Every heavy rain causes the water to collect, here and 
there, and flow down the slopes. At first only tiny rills 
are formed ; but these unite to form the little streams 
and brooks. 

In some places a brook is narrow and deep, in others 
broad and shallow ; here it flows swiftly, and there slowl}^ 
Place a chip or a boat 
in such a brook, and it 
floats quietly in some 
places, and then, com- 
ing to a rapid, it is 
whirled along swiftly 
and perhaps upset 
(Fig. 37). Or it may 
float to a waterfall, 
where the water tum- 
bles down from the 
top of a ledge, and 
then it is surely over- 
turned (Fig. 38). 

There are large riv- 
ers in the world much 




■ Fig. 37. 

A noisy brook in the Adirondacks of New 
York, tumbling over its rocky bed. 



like these little brooks, the main difference being in their 
size. But even such rivers are generally small at their 
beginning or source. Some of the largest have their sources 
far up in the mountains, where they are so small that a 
person can easily step across them. 

39 



40 



HOME GEOGBAPnY 



The water of these rivers 
may come from the melting 
snows; and, as it dashes along, 
beating itself into foam by- 
striking against the rocks, it 
is joined by other streams like 
itself. Often the water must 
rush round or leap over large 
boulders which lie in its path; 
and often it falls directly 
downward for many feet with 
a great roar (Fig. 75). 

Great rivers at their source 
are usually no larger than 
a hrooh. 



The water of a mountain 
stream seems to be quite help- 
less, with the great, hard 
rocks all about it ; but it 
never gives up its struggle 
with them. Rocky Ciiffs may 
reach far up into the sky on 
either side, and the slopes may 
be so steep that loose pieces 
of stone often fall into the 
water. But the torrent dashes 
these against one another, and 
grinds them against its rocky 
bed, until they are worn into 
pebbles. These pebbles are borne down stream and are 
slowly ground up into grains of sand and bits of clay. 




Copyrighted, 1889, by S. R. Stoddard. 

Fig. 38. 

A mountain torrent leaping over 
the ledges in rapids and water- 
falls. Point to one of the 
falls. Find others in the other 
pictures of the hook. 



RIVERS 41 

If we should travel down such a stream, starting near 
its source among the wild mountains, we should find it 
constantly changing. In the first place, it gradually grows 
larger, because other streams, called branches or tributaries^ 
enter it (Fig. 39). The banks become lower and the 
river grows broader and deeper. In places there may still 
be rapids and falls, but the country on either side is not 




Fig. 39. 

Two streams, the Allegheny and Monongahela, uniting at the great city of 
Pittsburg in Pennsylvania. 

SO steep and rocky as it was among the mountains. Now, 
houses, farms, and men are seen, and horses and cattle are 
grazing in the fields near the banks (Fig. 40). 

At first, the slope of the stream bed was so great that 
the river hurried along faster than you could run. Now 
the water no longer flows rapidly enough to drag boulders 
or even pebbles; but it can still carry the sand and mud 
brought by the rain from the soil of the hillsides. 

It has now been many days since this water left the 



42 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 




Fig. 40. 

The Connecticut River in Massachusetts, flowing through a splendid farming 

country. 

mountains. The river has become so wide that a long 
bridge is needed to cross it (Fig. 41), and so deep that 
one cannot touch its bed even Avitli a long pole. 

At last, per- 
haps weeks after 
it started, the 
water approaches 
the ocean ; and 
now the down- 
ward slope of the 
river bed is so 
geiitle that the 
current cannot 
drag even grains 
of sand; but it 
still carries fine 
bits of rock -mud 




Fig. 41. 

The long bridge across the Mississippi River at St. 
Louis. 



BIVEBS 



43 



with it. These bits may be so tiny that if you were to 
place some of the muddy water in a glass, it would take 
hours for all of them to settle and leave the water clear. 
When the river enters the quiet waters of the ocean, even 
this mud, or sediment, settles. 

We have followed the river from the source to the 
mouth where it empties its waters into the great ocean. 
At first it was a little stream, but by the addition of water 
from many tributaries, it has grown larger and larger, 
until at its mouth it may be more than a mile in width. 

A great river is hroacl and deep at its mouth, and 
its cun^ent is very sloiu ; hut it carries sediment even 
to the ocean. 

We have been describing a large river that had its source in tlie 
mountains ; but others are much smaller, and many do not start in 
the mountains. Some empty their water into other rivers, being 
tributaries, and others enter lakes rather than the sea. They may 
also have low, 
soft banks instead 
of high, rocky 
ones, and there 
may be neither 
rapids nor falls. 
But no matter 
where their 
sources and 
mouths may be, 
or what other dif- 
erences may ex- 
ist, they are, in Fig. 42. 

many ways, much A xjebbly brook bed which is filled with water when 
like this river. t^® ^^™ falls or the snow melts, but is often dry ii 

summer. 

Where does so much water come from? Taken up 
from the ocean, it falls from the sky in the form of rain 



iHaHM^.; 


KP -IMPf 1^-.: -4 


(^^P{l 


f :-ris±:!^f^M%^:^ 


i^^^^^^BB^^^^^^^B 


n^ 



44 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

or snow. But we all know that small streams dry up 
and disappear soon after a rain. Even large brooks may 
become quite dry in summer (Fig. 42). Why, then, do 
not great rivers also dry up ? 

One reason is that many rivers have a constant supply 
at their source. That this is true of a stream starting in 
a high mountain is clear, because we have seen (p. 26) 
that the snow in such places never entirely melts away. 
It is also true of streams that have their sources in lakes 
and swamps. 

Then, again, not all of the rain-water flows off, but some 
sinks down into the ground. There is a great deal of 
water in the ground, and it is this which men find when 
they dig wells. This underground water trickles through 
the soil, and through crevices in the rocks, often bubbling 
forth as a spring, weeks after it has fallen as rain some= 
where else. Most large rivers are supplied with water 
from hundreds and even thousands of such springs. 

It is to be remembered, too, that a gi'eat river, with its many trib- 
utaries, flows through a very large tract of country, so that when it is 
not raining in one part, the rain may be falling in another. Thus, 
while one tributary carries little water, heavy rain may keep others 
full, and this flows into the main stream, preventing it fx'om drying 
up. 

If a heavy rain falls, or if the snow melts rapidly, so 
much water may flow into a river that it rises and over- 
flows its banks (Fig. 43). Those who live near such 
streams are in danger of being drowned by the floods, and 
in some places men have built banks of earth, called levees, 
to keep the water from overflowing the towns and farms. 

The supply of river water conies from rain or melting 
snow, froin lakes and swamps, and from underground. 



BIVERS 



45 



Every one has seen muddy water flowing in gutters, or in rills on 
the hillsides. Great quantities of soil are washed away in this man- 
ner, as has been shown (p. 11). But what becomes of it all? 

If you have seen a sidewalk or a field flooded with water, you per- 
haps remember that when the flood disappeared, a thin layer of fine 
mud was left. This mud was carried along by the current until it 
reached a place where the water stood almost still, then it slowly set- 
tled. The same thing will happen if some muddy water is allowed to 
stand in a glass for a time. Try it. 

In much the same way, when there is a river flood (Fig. 43), the 
water spreads out on either side of the river in a great, thin sheet, flow- 




FiG. 43. 

Photograph of a river flood on the Ohio, which has forced the people to move 
out of their homes. Tell what you see in this picture. 

ing slowly along and depositing a thin layer of mud. Each flood adds 
a layer, making the land higher, until, after many years, it is lifted con- 
siderably above the usual level of the river. Such land is generally 
a level plain ; and since it is made by river floods, it is called a flood- 
plain. 

Many pieces of land have been made in this manner, and you have 
perhaps seen some of them. I^ear the banks of streams the valley is 
often flat, and the hillsides that bound the bottom of the valley begin 
to rise at a considerable distance from the water (Fig. 44). This level 
land is usually a flood-plain. Near small streams such plains are gener- 



46 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



ally narrow; but in the Mississippi and other valleys the flood-plains are 
many miles in width. Farmers like this soil because it is very fertile. 
Some of the sedhnent carried hy j^ivers forms flood- 
plains. 




Fig. 44. 
A small flood-plain between steeply sloping valley sides. 

Much of the sediment is carried on until it reaches a 
lake or the ocean. Here, opposite the river mouth, the 
water is generally quiet, so that the mud sinks to the 

bottom. At first only 
enough sediment is 
collected to form low, 
swampy land ; but 
this is gradually lifted 
liigher and higher, by 
layers of mud from 
each flood, until it 
becomes high enough 
to make dry land. 
^^' ^^' These plains at the 

This picture shows a river delta. What else , » . 

do you see in the picture ? mouths Ot nvers form 



f. 


^; <.,. 




P, rh 


~ 


!>» " ^ 


,. 


41 




_^".'' 


^J'-^i'r 


J'J am 






DeHa - - 





RIVERS 



47 



what are called deltas (Fig. 45). Many streams have 
such wide deltas that one cannot see across them, most of 
the sediment having come from fields, hills, and moun- 
tains, perhaps hundreds of miles away. The surface of 
the delta is a plain, because it cannot be built any higher 
than the floods themselves have reached. 

From year to year more sediment is brought down, and 
the land is built further and further into the water, so 
that deltas are constantly 
growing. The slope of the 
river bed is usually so gentle 
that all of the water cannot 
flow out in a single channel. 
For this reason it enters the sea 
through several arms, cutting 
the delta into several parts. 

Some of the sediTnent car- 
ried by rivers builds deltas 
at their mouths. 

A river entering the sea may re- 
ceive water brought by hundreds of 
tributaries. Thus the rain that falls 
in places even hundreds of miles 
apart may at last be brought together 
in a single main stream. Such a 
main stream with all of its tributa- 
ries is called a river system (Fig. 46). 
For instance, we speak of the Missis- 
sippi River system, meaning the Mis- 
sissippi and its many tributaries. 

All the country which is drained by a single main stream is called 
a river basin. Thus all the land drained by the Mississippi River is 
included in the Mississippi basin. 

One should not think of this as a true basin. A real basin, as a 



^'2"- 






J 




,1 


af/ ^^ • 


, 


'" 




1 


t^. 


1 




s ' 


p^^^ 


* 




^m 






\^ ^ L 


1 1 ; 


■~"V ., 



Fig. 46. 

Picture of a river system and 
river basin. Point to some 
of the tributaries ; to their 
source ; to the mouth ; to the 
delta. 



48 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

wash basin, has a vim extending all around it. The rim of a river 
basin is the divide ; but there is no divide, or rim, near the mouth of 
a river, since the water runs out into the sea. If it were a true basin, 
with a rim all around it, the water would collect and form a lake. 

All the land whose waters are drained hy a single 
river is called a river hasin, and all these streams 
together forin a river system. 

Some ways have already been suggested in which rivers 
are of much use. They build flood-plains and deltas, thus 
making some of the most fertile land in the world. Rivers 
also furnish water to plants, animals, and man. 

On page 6 it was shown that plants sometimes wither during hot 
weather, because the soil is dry. But near rivers the soil is usually 
kept so moist that plants grow well even in dry weather. 

There are some places in the world where there is not enough rain 
for crops to grow. The people in such regions sometimes lead the 
water out of the rivers into ditches, through which it flows for long 
distances. Then it is spread out over the thirsty soil, so that plants 
can thrive. This is called irrigation, and in some places no crops can 
be raised without it. 

Many animals and people depend on rivers for all the water they 
use. Even whole cities obtain their drinking water solely from rivers. 

Streams not only bring water that is needed, but they 
also carry away that which is not wanted. A river is 
really a great ditch for draining the land, so that when- 
ever the snow melts rapidly, or a heavy rain falls, the 
rivers quickly remove the water. They also carry off 
the filthy water, or sewage, of many towns and cities. 

Rivers supply water that is needed, and remove that 
which is not wanted. 

The water of rivers is also used for turning wheels to 
help make many articles, such as cloth and flour. 

You have perhaps noticed how windmills work (Fig. 



BIVEES 



49 



68). The wind blows the large wheel round and round, 
and it is so connected with other wheels that it can pump 
water, or turn a saw for sawing wood, or grind corn. 
Likewise steam is used to turn the wheels of a railway 
engine, so that it drags the heavy cars along. 

River water is made to do work in much the same man- 
Where there is a swift current, or where there are 



ner. 




Fig. 47. 

A picture of an old mill and old-fashioned wheel. Much smaller wheels are 
now used, and they cannot usually be seen. 

falls, as the Niagara Falls (Fig. 135), it is often easy to 
run some of the water oft' to one side through a ditch or 
pipe. The water, racing rapidly along, strikes a wheel 
(Fig. 47) and makes it whirl round. This wheel, being 
connected with others, causes them to turn also, much as 
one wheel in a clock causes others to revolve. 

Thus machinery is set in motion by which logs are 
sawed into lumber, grain is ground into flour, cotton is 
made into cloth, and many other kinds of work are done. 



50 HOME GEOGBAPHT 

The water that furnishes the power to turn the wheels 
is called the ivater-power, and the buildings in which such 
manufacturing is carried on are called factories or mills. 

In many places the river water does not flow fast enough 
to strike a wheel with much force ; water-power is found 
mainly in rivers with swift currents, and especially near 
rapids and falls. Here mills have been built, and then 
great cities have often sprung up (Fig. 75, p. 85). 

Rivers also supply water-power for manufacturing. 

There is still another way in which rivers are extremely 
valuable. It has always been difiicult to find a conven- 
ient means for carrying goods from one place to another. 
In some places there are no roads ; and even where there 
are, they are often hill3^ rough, and muddy. 

Yet most of the articles that we use every day, like sugar, 
flour, oil, meat, coal, lumber, and clothing, have been car- 
ried long distances, sometimes thousands of miles. Even 
if the roads were excellent, it would take a great deal 
of time, and cost much money, to bring these things in 
wagons. To carry them by railway takes less time, but is 
expensive. 

A broad, deep river is really one of the finest roads in 
the world. To be sure, no wagons or cars can be drawn 
over it, but boats move there with ease, A river boat 
can carry as much as scores of wagons or cars (Fig. 48), 
and many may be going and coming at the same time, so 
that a large river is equal to several railroads : it costs 
little, too, to keep it in repair.. 

For these reasons carrying goods by boat upon rivers, 
or river navigation, is a very important business. Indeed, 
it is so important that in many places broad ditches, called 



EIVERS 



51 



canals, have been cut in the soil and rock in order to carry 
goods by boat. 

Before the railways were built, — which is no longer 
ago than when your grandfathers were boys, — boats were 
used for carrying all sorts of articles from place to place. 
Even to-day, when there are so many good wagon roads 
and railways, it is cheaper to carry crops and other prod- 
ucts on boats than in cars, and this is often done. 




Fig. 48. 

A view across the broad Mississippi at New Orleans. The otlier bank is seen 
dimly in the distance. A loaded river boat is just coming in, and others 
are tied up to the levee. 

We see, then, why many people have preferred to build 
their homes near rivers. A farmer prefers to live near a 
good wagon road, or near the railway station, so that he 
may easily send his crops away ; and, for the same reason, 
people have always liked to live near a river, which is a 
good road or waterway. It is partly on this account that 
many of the large cities of the world stand on the banks 
ol large rivers. Do you know of any such cities ? 

Rivers are also of value for navigation. 



52 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

Review Questions. — (1) Describe a stream that you have seen. 
(2) What are rapids and falls ? (3) Describe a small stream in 
the mountains. (4) What does it do with the rocks in its way? 
(5) What are tributaries? (6) Does the current gTow more or less 
swift as one goes further down stream ? (7) How does the country 
change in appearance ? (8) What becomes of the pebbles ? Why ? 

(9) What is meant by the source of a river? By its mouth? 

(10) Where do rivers obtain their water? (11) What is a spring? 
(12) What effect has a heavy rain upon a stream ? (13) Why do 
not large rivers dry up in summer? (14) Why does not sedimeni, 
sink where the current is swift? (15) What is a liooa-plain? Why 
IS it level? (16) Explain how a delta is made. (17) What is a 
river basin? flS} A river system? (19) Why do plants grow well 
on the baoKS of a river ? (20) What is irrigation ? (21) How are 
rivers useful for drainage? (22) What is water-power? (23) In 
what ways is a river a fine road? (24) Give some of the reasons 
why many cities have sprung up near great rivers, 

Suggestions. — (1) After a heavy rain, follow a small stream 
from its source to its mouth. (2) Throw a chip into the water, and 
follow it as far as you can. (3) Why are the rocks in river beds 
usually so smooth and round? (4) K there is a brook or river near 
you, examine its banks. Is it a tributary of another stream? 
(5) How deep and how wide is it ? (6) Trace a brook to its source, 
if possible. Find several tributaries. (7) What large river is nearest 
your home? What are its largest tributaries? (8) What is meant 
by "up a river"? By "down a river"? By right bank? B\ left 
bank? By river channel? By river bed? (9) Find a spring. 
Why is its water cool? (10) Watch a well that is being dug, 
to see if underground water is found. (11) Find a flood-plain 
along the side of a stream. (12) Find a delta. (13) Do you 
know of a city that gets its water from a river? (14) Make a 
small water-wheel, and arrange for a stream of water to turn it round. 
(15) Visit a mill that is run by water-power. (16) Find out more 
about canals. (17) Make a collection of pictures of riverSj. and 
notice as many things as you can about them. (18) Find some 
poems describing brooks and rivers. (19) Write a story of a journey 
from the source to the mouth of a river. 

For References, see page 109. 




VI. PONDS AND LAKES 

Rivers supply towns and cities with water, and also 
turn the wheels of factories ; but some streams become 
so low in summer that they lack water for these pur- 
poses. To prevent this diffi- 
culty men often build dams 
of wood, earth, or stone across 
the rivers, and in this way 
collect sufficient water to 
make ponds (Fig. 49). When 
the rivers are high, these 
ponds are filled, and enough ^^^- *'•'■ 

water gathers to last through ^ ^^^m of dirt built in order to form 
• " ° a pond or reservoir. 

the dry season. 

Probably you have seen such a pond as this. Or you 
yourself may have made small ponds by building dams 
of mud or leaves across brooks and gutters (Fig. 50). 

Lakes may be made in a similar maimer, for they are like ponds, 
only larger. Sometimes they are several hundred miles in length, 
and perhaps one hundred miles in width. Some of the largest in the 
world, the Great Lakes in the northern United States, were made by 
dams formed ages ago across parts of the great St. Lawrence River 
system. 

Most ponds and lakes have been made in much the 
same way. That is, the water has gathered behind dams 
across streams. 

53 



54 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



But in most cases these dams have not been built by men. Beavers 
have made a few of them. There used to be a great many of these 
little animals in this country, and some are still left. Since they pre- 
fer quiet, shallow ponds in which to live, they gnaw down trees and 
build dams with the logs; then they build their homes in the water 
thus collected. 

In other places, where the sides of a valley are steep, great masses 
of rock and earth have sometimes fallen, in the form of avalanches, 
and blocked or dammed the streams. 




V^ 



Fig. 50. 
A boy building a dam to form a pond in the gutter. 

Also it was stated (p. 19) that the earth has been warped or bent 
upward in some places, forming low ridges, or even lofty mountain 
ranges. In this way the ground has sometimes slowly risen across 
river valleys, making high dams ; in such cases large lakes have been 
formed. 

There are many other ways in which dams have been built, espe- 
cially by means of glaciers, which you will study about later. 

Most ponds and lakes have heen formed hy dams 
across valleys. 



PONDS AND LAKES 55 

Since a lake is generally a part of a stream, it is evident 
that water must flow into it. The river that flows into 
a lake is called the inlet, and that which flows out is 
called the outlet. There are also many streams entering 
from the sides. Each of these brings sediment, which set- 
tles in the lake, slowly filling it. At first deltas are built 
opposite to the stream mouths ; then, in time, the whole 
lake is filled and changed to a swamp. Many a swamp is 
really the last stage in the life of a lake. 

The surface of a lake appears to be level ; but one part 
is really slightly higher than the other, otherwise the 
water would not flow out of it. The higher part of the 
lake, near the inlet, is called the head of the lake, the lower 
part, near the outlet, the foot of the lake. It is correct, 
then, to speak of going up or down a lake, just as we 
speak of going up or down a river. 

Some lakes have no outlets, because there is so little water that 
the basin cannot fill up and overflow. This has a very peculiar effect 
upon the water, for in time it becomes salt. Probably you have heard 
of the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake of Utah. These are salt lakes 
of this kind, and no one would drink their water, even if he were 
dying of thirst. 

But why do such lakes become salt ? There is some salt in all water, 
even in that which we drink, although so little that we do not notice it. 
When water flows into a lake, the salt is carried with it. If there is 
no outlet, the salt can go no further ; but each day some of the water 
is changed to vapor and carried away in the air. As the bits of salt 
cannot go off in this way, they remain, and increase in number, until, 
in time, the water becomes so salt that we have a salt lake. 

Most lahes have inlets and outlets; hut some, having 
no outlets, become salt. 

Tlie land at the margin of a river is called the hank, 
but that along the margin of a lake is called the shore. 



00 



UOUK ftSOGSAPHY 




A ssuuiy beaolv on ;v l;>ko shvuv. 



Sometimes tlie lake shore is low aiul wot, boiui^- over- 
groAvn with s\Aivmp phvnts. Aiiaiiu ii is [Uoasiuu to walk 
upon, being" made of sand and pobblos bvonght thovi> bv 
the Avaves. This kind of shvn-o is oallod a hfaeh (^Fig'< olV 




A viow on Moosol»o;ui Uiki> in Miiino. 1 oani what caoh of tlic nanios moans. 



PONBS AND LAKES 



57 



Many lake shores are regular, but many more are irreg- 
ular. In some places points of land, called headlands, ex- 
tend into the water (Fig. 52). If small, these are called 
points or capes; if large, peninsulas. A narrow neck 
of land joining two larger pieces is an isthmus. Bodies of 
land entirely surrounded by water are known as islands. 

The water that is partly shut in between two headlands 
is called a bai/. When a bay has deep water, and is so 
nearly surrounded by land that vessels can enter it and 
be protected from the wind and waves, it is called a 
harbor. A narrow strip of water connecting two larger 
bodies of water is known as a strait. 




Fig. 53. 

How many of the features just mentioned can you find in this picture ? Find 
some also on Fig. 60. 



When the water gathers behind a dam to form a lake, it enters 
many valleys, forming bays and harbors, with capes, and perhaps 
islands between. This is the chief reason for the irregular shores 
of many lakes. If you will make a little valley in clay, with two or 
three tributaries entering, then put a dam across it and fill it with 
water, you will see just how this is done. 

The shores of lakes are often irregular, pj^oditcing 
bodies of land and water of many shapes. 



58 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



Ponds and lakes are useful in many of the same ways 
as rivers. They help to keep the ground moist ,■ they 
furnish water to cities, and they supply water to turn the 
wheels of factories. Beside this, many valuable fish are 
caught in lakes, and much ice is cut from their surface. 

Again, like rivers, lakes are important waterways. 
Upon large lakes, like the Great Lakes, hundreds of ves- 
sels are going and coming, carrying men, grain, coal, lum- 
ber, and countless other things. On this account many 
people have settled on the shores of large lakes ; and, as a 
result, many towns and cities have been built there. Do 
you know of any ? 

The shores of lakes are often very beautiful, and many persons go 
to them in summer to hunt, fish, and canoe. There are hotels there, 
too (Fig. 52), and some lakes are important summer resorts. 

Lahes sujjply drinking water, ivaterpower, fish, and 
ice. They are also useful for navigation and for surmner 
resorts. 

How are vessels loaded with goods ? And again, how 
can these cargoes be unloaded ? Wagons may be driven 
beside a railway car, and be filled or emptied speedily. 

But a large 
boat sinks 
down many 
feet into the 
water (Fig. 
54), so that if 
it came near 
the shore, it 
might strike 
Fig. 54. • the bottom and 

A picture to show how deep a vessel sinks in the water. be wrecked. 




M>^^.,^\^^\\\<^\\s^\^\\.<)\\^\\<^^^S«^\\\'.\^ 



PONDS AND LAKES 



59 




Fig. 55. 

A small harbor on an island on the coast of 

California. 



Fortunately, here and there along the lake shore, there 
are small bays with deep water. The opening is large 
enough for 
vessels to en- 
ter easily, but 
small enough 
to keep out the 
fierce waves. 
Here we have 
a fine harbor 
(Fig. 55). 

From the 
shores of the 
harbor men 

build piers of wood or stone, called wharves. These reach 
into the deeper water, where ships may be fastened or 
moored to them. Wagons can be driven on to the wharves, 
so that this forms a convenient and safe place for loading 
and unloading vessels. Such a harbor often determines 
the location of a city. 

Large cities are sometimes found on parts of a lake shore where there 
are no such natural harbors. In that case harbors have to be made, 
even though it is expensive to do so. Walls of rock, or of posts driven 
deep into the ground, are built in such a way as nearly to inclose a 
body of water, very much as capes inclose the water of a natural harbor. 
Such a wall is called a breakwater (Fig. 56), because it breaks the 
force of the waves, and prevents them from entering the space behind. 

When a harbor is not deep enough for vessels to enter, it is neces- 
sary to dig out the dirt and rock from the bottom. This is quite 
often done in the inlet and outlet streams at the ends of a lake. 

Harbors are places where vessels find safety from 
storms and where cargoes are loaded and unloaded 
with ease. 



60 HOME GEOGRAPHY 




Fig. 56. 
A breakwater built in a place where the coast has no natural harbor. 

Review Questions. — (1) Why are dams built in rivers ? (2) Ex- 
plain how ponds are made. (3) How do lakes differ from ponds? 
(4) How are lakes made ? (5) Tell what you can about beaver 
dams. (6) In what other ways may lake dams be made ? (7) What 
is the inlet of a lake? The outlet? The head? The foot? (8) How 
does it happen that some lakes have no outlet? (9) What about 
the water then? Why? 

(10) What is meant by shore? By beach? (11) What do you 
understand by a regular lake shore? (12) Make a drawing of a 
cape; peninsula; isthmus; island; bay; strait. (13) Tell in words 
what each of these is. (14) What is the cause of these irregularities? 
(15) Mention a few uses of ponds and lakes. (16) What is a harbor? 
(17) Why must the water be deep? (18) How can a harbor protect 
ships from storms ? (19) What is a wharf ? (20) How are harbors 
often made? (21) What is a breakwater ? 

Suggestions. — (1) Build a dam in some small stream and note 
how rapidly tlie water collects. (2) Find out more about beavers. 

(3) Look for a pond or lake and examine the dam that caused it. 

(4) See if there are both an inlet and an outlet. (5) Walk up the 



P0NB8 AITD LAKES 61 

lake ; walk down the lake. (6) Examine the shore and notice the 
different forms of land and water. (7) Find a small harbor. Would 
every bay make a good harbor? (8) Make a small, irregular hollow 
in clay and fill it with water to form capes, harbors, and islands. 
(9) Find some of these in the pictures and maps of this book. 

(10) How do men get ice from a lake ? (11) In what ways do men 
catch fish? What kinds of fish have you seen caught? (12) Find 
pictures of good harbors. Look for the wharves and the breakwater. 
(13) Build a breakwater to form a little harbor in a small stream or 
pond. (14) Find just how many feet some of our largest ships sink 
into the water. 

(15) Walk toward the nearest large lake. What are some of its 
tributaries? Where is the inlet stream? The outlet? What are 
their names? (16) Name some cities that are on lake harbors. 
(17) Write a story telling what you would expect to see along a 
lake shoie. 

For References, see page 109. 



VII. THE OCEAN 

The great rivers, starting as tiny brooks, grow into 
larger and still larger streams, until, after days and per- 
haps weeks, they mingle their waters in the ocean. No 
doubt much of the rain falling in your neighborhood 
finally reaches the sea in this way ; and if you could float 
along upon it in a light boat, in time you too would reach 




Fig. 57. 

A view of the great ocean. Notice the sailing vessel in the distance on the 
right-hand side. 

the ocean. How large is this body of water, and what 
are some other interesting facts about it ? 

We can see across most lakes, and can sail across even 
the largest in a day or two ; but the ocean is far larger. 
One could sail upon it in the same direction for many 
days without coming to land (Fig. 57), It is so great 
that it surrounds all the land on which people live, and 
no matter in which direction you might travel, if you 
went far enough you would come to it. 

62 



THE OCEAN 63 

If you were to start out to reach the ocean, the journey 
might last many days. It might be necessary to go up 
hills and across valleys, to pass around lakes, and possibly 
over great ranges of mountains. You would be surprised 
to find how much land there is, and how many farms, 
villages, towns, and cities there are. 

But there is far more water than land. In fact, the 
water covers about three-fourths of the earth's surface and 
the land only one-fourth. If one were to travel entirely 
around the earth, he would probably spend much more 
than one -half of his time upon the ocean. 

The ocean is so immense that the great rivers in all parts of the 
earth pour their water into it. Their mouths may be thousands of 
miles apart, yet the sea stretches far enough to reach them all. 

The water of the ocean is too salt to drink ; but river water is 
fresh. Since there are many thousands of rivers entering the sea, 
would you not expect that their water would make the ocean less salt? 
It does do so near the mouths of great rivers ; but soon it becomes 
mixed and swallowed up in the salt water. This is another way of 
showing the size of the ocean, for all the river water that enters it is 
not enough to make it fresh. 

The salt xvater of the ocean surroiiiids all the land. 

Different parts of the ocean have different names. For 
instance, the Atlantic Ocean is the part lying between the 
United States and the land called Europe, where the 
English, German, and other peoples live. We buy many 
articles from these countries, such as woollen cloth, knives, 
oranges, and olives; and they likewise purchase other 
articles from us, such as wheat, cotton, and meat. The 
way to reach these people is to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 
The fastest steamers need five or six days for the voyage. 

In all parts of the earth, the ocean is a great highway. It is so 
large that thousands of ships are travelling upon it in all directions, 



64 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



carrying people, cattle, grain, fruit, iron, different kinds of machines, 
and many other things. Although there are so many ships, the ocean 
is so large that one ship may sail for days without seeing another. 

Ocean navigation is therefore a great business, and many 
thousands of men are engaged in ito Most of the ships 
used are larger than the vessels upon lakes, and they sink 
deeper into the water (Fig. 58). Very large ones, when 
loaded, reach down about thirty feet below the surface. 




Fig. 58. 

A large ocean steamer, one that sails between the United States and Europe- 
See how small the men appear. 

Of course the ships meet with storms upon the ocean, as upon lakes. 
In fact, the ocean waves are at times so high that they sweep over and 
almost cover up the largest vessels (Fig. 59), 

The coast of the ocean resembles the lake shore in hav 
ing capes, peninsulas, islands, isthmuses, straits, and bays 
(Fig. 60). We have learned (pp, 19 and 32) that the 
land in places has been raised or lowered. When it is 
lowered near the seacoast, the water enters the valleys 



THE OCEAN 



65 



and partly drowns the land, as it does in lakes (p. 57). 
This of course makes an irregular coast. 




Fig. 59. 
Ocean waves during a storm. 

Naturally, on such an irregular coast there are harbors 
which large vessels enter, and in which they are safe from 
storms. For example, New York harbor is so broad and 
deep that hundreds of ships (Fig. 61) are found in it at 
all times, either loading or unloading their cargoes, or 
waiting for storms to pass. 




Fig. 60. 

A picture of Castine harbor on the irregular coast of Maine. Here the land 
has been lowered so that the salt water of the ocean has entered the val- 
leys, covering their bottoms, but leaving the hill-tops as islands, capes, etc. 



66 



HOME GEOGEAPHY 



Goods are brought to New York, not only from Europe, but also 
from China and Australia, and in fact, from all parts of the world. It 
is quite possible that the tea and coffee which are used on your 
table, and the bananas and pineapples which you have eaten, were 
brought over the ocean and unloaded in this harbor. If not, they 
were unloaded in some other fine harbor, such as Boston, San Fran- 
cisco, or Philadelphia. 

Since the ocean easily connects such, harbors with all 
parts of the world, it is natural that great cities should 




Fig. 61. 

A view among the ships along the wharves of New York Harhor. The great 
Brooklyn Bridge is seen beliind the masts. 

spring up where the best ocean harbors are found. It is 
partly on this account that New York, Philadelphia, Bos- 
ton, and San Francisco have become such large cities. 

Vessels come toward these seaports from all parts of. the world ; 
but it is often difficult to tell just where to enter the harbors, espe- 
cially at night. Ships are in danger of going out of the way, and of 
running upon rocks, or reefs, in the shallow water near the coast 
(Fig. 62). On that account, taU lighthouses are built on many 



THE OCEAN 



67 




Fig. 62. 
A vessel wrecked by ruuning aground upon a shallow reef. 

islands and capes, so that captains may know by tlieir lights which 
way to go in order to enter the harbors (Fig. 63). 

The ocean is a great luaterway, connecting different 
parts of the luorlcl. 

Not only are goods carried on vessels, but many men go out in 
them, often out of sight of land, in order to catch the fish which 
live in such great numbers in the sea. Instead of hooks and lines, 
long nets are often used, and in them so many fish are caught that 




Fig. 63. 

A lighthouse on a rocky point. A bright light is placed at the top of the 
tower so that it may be seen far away. 



68 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

the vessel is loaded down with fish. No doubt some of the mackerel 
that you have eaten have been caught in this way. Picture 67, p. 73, 
shows a vessel that is used to catch ocean fish. 

In summer the ocean sliore is cooler than the land far 
away from the sea. This is because the air is cooled as 
it passes over the water. Many people therefore go to 
the seashore to avoid the hot weather, just as others go 
to the mountains. Here they spend day after day climb- 
ing about over the rocks or walking upon the clean, 



Fig. 64. 

Old Orchard Beach on the New England coast. Notice the large number of 
summer visitors strolling over the cool, hard beach, or bathing in the 
shallow water. 

sandy beach, breathing the fresh air, enjoying the beauti- 
ful scenery, and bathing in the cool salt water (Fig. 64). 

On this account many houses, and even towns, have been built at 
those places along the seashore where people wish to spend their vaca- 
tions. There are large hotels to accommodate the visitors; and in 
the summer these places are crowded ; but very few people remain at 
the summer resorts during the winter. 

There is another way in which the ocean is even more 
useful to man. It is the sea-water which supplies us 



TEE OCEAN 



69 



with moisture, so that there can be rain. If it were not 
for the great ocean, very little rain would fall. So every 
one is deeply indebted to the ocean, even though he may 
live thousands of miles from it. Soon you will learn 
(p. 74) how its water reaches us in the form of rain. 

The seashore is a popular sinmner resort; the ocean 
water supplies food and mahes rain possible. 

Rivers, lakes, and the ocean present many beautiful views. You 
may have observed that in cities, where people plan for fine paries, 
they arrange, if possi- 
ble, to have a lake or 
stream as part of the 
scenery. A body of 
water, even if but a 
brook, greatly im- 
proves a view. 

A brook is a beau- 
tiful object (Fig. 6.5). 
How pleasant to see 
its green banks, to 
listen to its rippling 
waters, and to watch 
its tiny rapids, whirl- 
pools, and falls, as it 
travels onward to the 
ocean ! 

Rivers are not less attractive ; like the brooks, their rushing waters 
seem to tell a story, and one loves to linger by them, to listen and to 
look. At times, when swollen by floods, they are wild and savage ; 
again they are quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. They wind in and 
out among the steep and wooded hills; now they flow along noise- 
lessly, then they rush over rapids and falls with a roar ; here their 
banks are low and green, there they are high, steep, and rocky. 

The lakes and the ocean are sparkling sheets of silvery water, often 
dotted here and there with white sails. Sometimes the color is green, 
again it is blue ; and when the clouds hang over it, it is dark and 




Fig. 65. 

A quaint New England bridge across a beautiful 
brook. 



70 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

gloomy. There are beautiful sunrises and sunsets to watch; and 
one can see the storms come and go, with the waves dashing into 
the whitest of foam. In fact, the water, the sky, and the coast are 
always changing in appearance, so that the lake shore and the sea- 
shore are among the most attractive of places. 

TJie land and the water together furnish many beau- 
tiful views. 

Review Questions. — (1) What place does the water of brooks 
and rivers finally reach ? (2) How much of the earth's surface is water ? 
(3) What other facts show that the ocean is very large ? (4) Tell 
about ocean navigation. (5) What is the cause for irregular ocean 
shores ? (6) Tell what you can about New York harbor. (7) Why 
are large cities found on the fine ocean harbors ? (8) Of what use 
are lighthouses? (9) Name some foods obtained from the ocean. 
(10) Why do many people go to the seashore in summer ? 

(11) Do you know of any park or meadow with a stream or lake 
in it? If so, describe it. (12) Did you ever enjoy watching the 
water? Where was it? (13) How does the surface of a lake or 
ocean change at different times? 

Suggestions. — (1) In what direction would you go to reach the 
ocean? How far is it? (2) Find pictures of large harbors with 
ships in them. (3) Name several seaport cities. (4) Have some one 
tell you about a journey across the ocean. (5) Name as many arti- 
cles as you can that come from over the ocean. (6) How does the 
"japtain of a vessel know in what direction he is going, after losing 
sight of land ? (7) How are ships made to move through the water? 
(8) What use is made of whales? (9) Find out how fish are caught. 
(10) Ask some one who has visited a summer resort on the seashore 
to tell you about it. (11) Is there any brook or river that you enjoy 
visiting? Where is it most beautiful? (12) Tell about some of the 
storms on the ocean described in Robinson Crusoe. (13) Do you 
know of any views that are made more beautiful by the presence 
of water? If so, where are they? Describe them. (14) Collect, 
from magazines, pictures of beautiful views with water in them. 
(15) Write a story, telling what you would expect to see in crossing 
the ocean. (16) Make a drawing of a ship. 

For References, see page 109. 



VIII. THE AIR 

Since air cannot be seen, people often forget that it 
really is something ; but a fire will not burn without it, 
and plants, animals, and men must have it to breathe. In 
fact, drowning means nothing more than sinking under 
water, where there is not enough air to breathe. 

This is proof that the air is really something, even 
though it cannot be seen ; and you can prove the same 
thing in other ways. For instance, if you stand with 
your face to a breeze, you feel the air moving. Some- 
times this movement of the air, which we call ivind^ is so 
rapid that it blows down trees and houses. 

Here is an experiment to prove that the aii" is something and that 
it fills space. 

Find an empty bottle without a cork and sink it in water with the 
open end up. Notice the gurgling noise as the bubbles of air rise to 
the surface, while the bottle slowly fills. Where does this air come 
from? And why does not the bottle fill more quickly? You see that 
although we called the bottle empty, it was really filled with air which 
could not be seen. The water could not enter the bottle until it pushed 
the air out, because the bottle could not be filled with two substances 
at the same time. So, as the air was leaving, the water was entering. 

If the bottle is turned bottom upward, and pushed perfectly straight 
into water, the air will be given no chance to slip out, and then the 
bottle cannot be filled with water. 

Air is something real and occupies space. 

There is air all around the earth, and it extends many 
miles above us. This air, often called the atmosphere, is 

71 



72 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



usually in motion, now in one direction, now in another, 
and it often moves fast enough to cause a breeze, or 
wind. 



Even when the wind is not blowing near the ground, it may be 
doing so far above, where tlie clouds are. You can see that this is 
so, if you watch the clouds as they are driven along by the winds. 

Let us see what causes the air to move. Heat has much 

to do with it. If you watch 
smoke in a room where 
there is a lighted lamp, 
you will see that it moves 
toward the lamp, and then 
rises above it (Fig. 66). 
Hot air also rises above a 
stove, or above a furnace 
through the registers ; and 
during the winter, when 
there is a hot fire, the air 
near the ceiling of a room 
is much warmer than that 
near the floor. 

The reason for all this is, 
that when air is warmed, 
it is expanded and made 
lighter. Light objects, such 
as wood, will rise and float in water. So, also, when air 
is warmed and made light near a lamp, the cooler, heavy 
air all around flows toward the lamp and the warm air is 
forced to rise. It is, in fact, pushed up by the current of 
heavy, cool air. 

Now we can understand the cause of winds. The at- 




FiG. 66. 

The smoke of a cigar rising from 

the table above the lighted 

lamp. 



THE AIR 



73 



mosphere in one place, perhaps to the north of you, is 
colder than that where you are. This cold air, being denser 
and heavier than the warm air, begins to push it away, 
and thus moves toward you, forming a cold north wind. 

People on the sea or lake shore often have such winds in summer, 
when, during a hot day, the air over the land becomes heated, while 
that over the water remains cool. The cool air then commences to 
move landward, and a cool sea breeze begins to blow. 

Whenever the air is heavy in one place, and light in 
another, winds will blow toward the place where it is 
light. Since this lightness of the air is visually caused by 
heat, we say that 

Most winds are caused hy differences in the tempera- 
ture of the air. 



"Winds are useful in many ways 
vessels through 
the water, and 
they turn wind- 
mills (Fig. 68), 
which are often 
used to pump 
water from wells. 
But what is most 
important, they 
carry water all 
over the earth. 
At all times 
there is enough 
water in the at- 
mosphere to fill 
many large lakes. 



They drive sailing 




Fig. 6T. 

A sailing vessel driven through the water by the 
wind. This is a fishing schooner going out of the 
harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, after a load 
of fish. 




74 HOME GEOGBAPHY 

You know tliat there must be some water in the air, for 
wet clothes hung out on a line become dry as the water 
passes off into the air. 

Some of the water in the atmosphere enters 
it after every rainstorm, when the muddy 
roads and wet fields are drying ; but most of 
it comes from rivers, lakes, and the ocean. 
We have already learned (p. 63) that the 
ocean covers about three-fourths of the sur- 
face of the earth. The air is taking water 
from all parts of it, so that each minute 
enough water to fill thousands and thousands 
of barrels is leaving the ocean and floating 
away in the atmosphere. 
Another reason why we know that there must be much 
water in the air, is that much comes out of it in the form 
of rain, snow, hail, dew, and frost. 

The air takes up water from one place and holds it, per- 
haps for many days, during which time the winds may 
have carried it hundreds of miles ; it may then be allowed 
to fall. Thus it is by the help of the wind that rocks are 
wet and caused to change to soil, plants are made to grow, 
rivers are furnished with water, and animals and people 
are given water to drink. 

Persons living where there is plenty of fain perhaps do 
not realize how important it is ; but there are some parts 
of the earth where the air is so dry that very little rain 
can fall from it. In these places, called deserts (Fig. 69), 
only a few kinds of plants and animals can live, while men 
generally avoid them. 

The aU^ obtains water froin the ocean, and the winds 
carry it about. 



THE AIB 75 

What causes water to rise into the air ? And why can 
we not see it there ? If you watch a boiling kettle, you 
will see that " steam " rises from it. In a short time all 
the water will be boiled out of the kettle, passing into the 
air, where you can no longer see it. 

The water in the kettle was a liquid^ which could be seen; 
but heat has changed it to a gas^ which, like air, is colorless 
and cannot be seen. Then, too, it is so light. that it floats 




FiG. 69. 

Camels crossing the desert. Notice how barren it is. 

round in the air. This water gas is called water vapor, and 
the change from liquid water to vapor is called evaporation. 

It is not necessary to boil water to make it evaporate ; 
for all over the earth, where there is waiter, vapor is rising 
from it into the air. You can prove this for yourself by 
placing a pan of water on a table and leaving it for some 
days, and then noticing how much of it has evaporated. 
It is in this way that the great amount of water, which 
every moment is rising from the ocean, is able to pass 
into the atmosphere. 

Water vapor is obtained hy evaporation. 



76 



HOME GEOGBAPHY 



When it falls from the sky as rain, the water vapor has 
changed back to liquid water. What causes it to do 
this ? 

Have you ever noticed a glass or pitcher of ice water 
"sweat" on a hot summer day (Fig. 70)? The water 
that collects on the glass has not leaked through, for there 
are no holes in the glass. What has really happened is 
that the air near the dish has 
been cooled so that the vapor in 
the air has collected in drops 
on the cold surface of the glass. 
Drops would gather there just the 
same, even if no water were in 
the glass, provided the surface re- 
mained just as cold. 

On wash day, when a great 
deal of water vapor rises from the 
boiler, the windows are often cov- 
ered with drops of water, because 
the vapor has been changed back 
to liquid, or condensed, on the cold 
window pane. Your own breath 
contains vapor, and you can change 
it to water by breathing on a cold 
window pane. So you see that if 
air loaded with vapor is cooled, some of the vapor gas is 
changed back to water. 

There are several ways in which air may be cooled. 
You know that mountains are colder than the lower 
lands (p. 20) ; so that winds blowing over them are often 
chilled, and their vapor condensed. It is evident from 
this that mountains are an important help in causing rain 




Fig. 70. 

Little drops of water con- 
densed from the vapor of 
the air on the outside of 
a glass of cold water. 



THE AIR 



77 



Vapor may also be condensed when a cold wind blows 
against a warm one. Again, during summer the sun may 
shine down so hot that the air near the earth becomes 
warm. This makes it so light that it often rises high into 
the sky, where the air is so cold that the vapor condenses 
into rain. The summer thunder showers, which often 
come on hot afternoons, are caused in this way. 

Vapor is condensed hy the cooling of the air. 




Fig. 71. 
Clouds formed upon the mountain sides because the air has been chilled. 

There are several different forms of condensed vapor. 
When you breathe into the air on a cold, frosty morning, 
your breath forms a little fog or cloud. The cold air has 
made the vapor change to tiny particles of water, so small 
that you cannot see a single one, though many of them 
together make a thin mist. You have no doubt seen fogs 
in valleys, on lakes, or over the ocean. These are always 
made of tiny drops of water condensed from vapor in 
the air. 

Most clouds are also made of tiny fog and mist parti- 
cles. These, too, are caused by the cooling of the air. 



78 



HOME GEOGBAPHT 



sometimes when it moves against mountain slopes (Fig. 
71), sometimes when cold winds blow against warm ones, 
and sometimes when warm air rises high in the heavens 

and becomes cool (Fig. 
72). 

Another form of con- 
densed vapor is the rain- 
drop which falls from 
the clouds. These drops 
begin as tiny mist or 
fog particles, and then, 
becoming larger and 
larger, grow so heavy 
that they can no longer 
float, but must fall to the 






""''*^*:1W& 



Fig. 72. 

A summer cloud, often called a " thun- 
der head," formed by the rising of 
warm air to such a height that the 
vapor is condensed. 



ground. 



We have seen that water may be either a liquid or a 
gas. There is still another form, the solid, which is pro- 
duced when vapor con- 
denses in a temperature 
below 32°, or the freezing 
point. Then snow or hail 
is formed instead of rain 
(Fig. 73). 

At night, drops of water 
often collect on the cold 
ground, on grass and 
leaves, somewhat as it does 
on an ice pitcher or the 
window pane. This is dew, which gathers because the 
ground cools quickly after the sun sets, so that the warm, 
vapor-laden air is chilled until the vapor is condensed. 




Fig. 73. 

Photographs of snowflakes. Some- 
time, when light, feathery snow is 
falling, notice what beautiful forms 
it takes. 



THE AIR 



79 



If the temperature is below the freezing-point, frost is 
formed instead. 

You will notice that raindrops, fog particles, and snow- 
flakes form in the air, while dew gathers on grass and the 
drops of water on window panes. Really the raindrops 
and fog particles also gather on solid substances ; for 
there are many tiny, solid particles of dust floating in the 
air, which you can often see dancing in a beam of sun- 
light, and it is around these that the rain, fog, and snow 
form. 

It is condensed vapor that forms fog, mist, rain, 
snow, hail, dew, and fi^ost. 

Usually winds from certain directions, as from the 
ocean, are liable to bring rain, while others indicate fair 
weather. By keeping a daily record of the direction of 
the wind, and of the kind of weather it brings, you will 
be able to find out for yourself which of your winds 
cause fair weather and which rainy. You might also 
look at the thermometer at the same time and note the 
temperature. By these means you can learn something 
about the weather around your home. A record of this 
kind, which would be called a weather record^ might be 
kept somewhat as follows : ^ 



Date and Time of Day. 


Direction of Wind. 


Kind of Weather. 


Temp. 


Aug. 17, 1899, 8 A.M. 
Aug. 17, 1899, 8 P.M. 
Aug. 18, 1899, 8 A.M. 


Southeast. 

Calm. 

West. 


Cloudy. 
Gentle Rain. 
Clear. 


70° 

72° 
68° 



1 If it is practicable, the teacher should at this point introduce an ele- 
mentary study of weather maps and have the pupils read them each day. 



80 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

Review Questions. — (1) Of what use is air? (2) How can you 
prove that air is something? (3) Describe the experiments with 
the bottle. (4) What do they prove? (5) What are winds? 
(6) Prove that there are winds high above the ground. (7) Why 
does the air rise over a lighted lamp? (8) What causes winds ? (9) In 
what ways are winds useful? (10) How can you prove that there 
is water in the air? (11) Where does most of it come from? 
(12) What do the winds do with this water? (13) Of what service 
is the rain ? (14) What becomes of v/ater as it boils ? (15) What is 
water vapor? (16) What is evaporation ? 

(17) What happens to vapor when cooled ? (18) Tell some 
ways in which you can see condensed vapor. (19) In what ways can 
the vapor in the air be condensed ? (20) Why can you " see your 
breath " on cold mornings? (21) How are clouds formed? (22) How 
cold must it be to form snow ? (23) How is dew caused ? Frost ? 
(24) Of what importance are the dust particles in the air? (25) Tell 
how you would keep a weather i-ecord. 

Suggestions. — (1) Why are stoves made so as to let in air for the 
fire? (2) What becomes of the air after it enters? (3) How does 
air reach the wick of a lamp ? (4) Try a common drinking glass, 
instead of a bottle, to show that air takes up space. (5) Heat some 
muddy water and watch its movement. (6) Why does smoke go up, 
and not down, the chimney? (7) Show how a hot stove causes a 
movement, or circulation, of the air in a room. (8) Find out how 
your schoolhouse is ventilated. (9) How many examples can you 
give of evaporation of water ? (10) Cool a piece of glass or iron and 
notice the vapor condense upon it, when the air is "muggy" or when 
steam is passing into the air. (11) Why do clouds frequently sur- 
round mountain tops ? (12) See how early in the evening the dew 
begins to collect upon the ground. (13) What causes fogs to dis- 
appear? (14) Which winds usually bring rain to you? (15) How 
far have they probably carried the vapor ? How long would it take 
them to do this, if they travelled at the rate of eight miles per hour ? 
(16) Write a story, giving the history of a raindrop. 

For References, see page 109. 



IX. INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 

Every man is expected to engage in some kind of 
work, or industry, in order to earn a living. For instance, 
farmers raise stock and grain, while gardeners produce 
vegetables and fruit. The crops they raise vary with 
the locality. 

Some men, instead of working in the soil, are engaged 
in manufacturing such articles as shoes, cloth, and ma- 
terials used in building and furnishing houses. Are 
there any of these men in your vicinity ? If so, what do 
they make ? You can at least find a blacksmith shop, or 
a tin shop, or a house that is being built. Notice how 
many different materials are used by the workmen. 

Storekeepers do neither of these two kinds of work. 
What, then, do they do ? Notice how many articles the 
grocer keeps in his store, also the dry-goods merchant, 
and others whose stores you visit. Where do they get 
them all ? 

At the present time it is easy, where most of us live, to 
buy almost anything, and to find men who can do almost 
any kind of work. We are so accustomed to all this 
that we are apt to forget that it has not always been so. 

Not many hundred years ago there were no stores or 
houses in this country ; and each family, as it settled 
here, was obliged to find its own food, make its own 
clothing, and build its own house. 
o 81 



82 



HOME GEOGBAPHT 



Let us study more fully how people lived in those days, 
and how changes have gradually been made until the 
present manner of living was reached. 

The first persons M^ho left Europe, and crossed the 
Atlantic Ocean to live in this country, naturally settled 
along the coast, because that was the first place reached. 

But soon men began to push into the wilderness 
further west. Often several families settled together, 
miles away from other people. Sometimes a single 
family would go off alone, and make a home ten or 
twelve miles from the nearest neighbor. Most of the 
United States was first settled by these scattered pioneer 
families. 

Of course when a man started out he took some articles 
with him, as a gun, with powder and bullets, some cloth- 
ing, and some blankets ; but upon arriving at his new 

home he was obliged, 
like Robinson Crusoe, 
to rely upon himself. 

In 1816, when Abraham 
Lincoln was seven years of 
age, his father moved to 
Indiana. He had to cut 
down trees in order to make 
room for a house, which he 
built of logs with mud be- 
tween the cracks (Fig. 74). 
It' had no floor except the 
earth, and only one room. Abraham slept in the loft, climbing up 
<iach night by pegs fastened in the logs. The beds were some posts 
driven into the ground with cross-pieces ; the chairs were three-legged 
stools, and the table was a part of a log supported upon four legs. 
When a young boy, Abraham wore trousers of deerskin, and when 
he was not barefooted he probably used moccasins for shoes. 




Fig. 74. 

A log house, such as the pioneers used to 
build iu the forests. 



INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 83 

His father raised enough corn for corn bread ; their tea "was often 
made from roots in the forest, and meat was obtained by shooting wild 
game. Abraham was very fond of books ; but at night he read by 
the light of burning wood, for he had neither candle nor lamp. He 
wrote with ink made from brier-root, and with a pen made from the 
quill of a large feather. Almost everything that the family used was 
raised or made by the father and mother, so that they had to do 
many kinds of work. 

Other pioneers lived in mucli the same manner. Usu- 
ally they raised their grain and wheat for bread. They 
kept sheep and made the wool into yarn, blankets, and 
cloth. If a boy needed a new suit of clothes, his mother 
would make the cloth, cut it, and sew it. They were 
obliged to do nearly everything for themselves. 

As a rule, each man raised more of some things than 
his own family could use, as wheat, wool, or hogs ; but 
there were others that he had to buy, as powder, sugar, 
salt, pepper, and coffee. 

It was the custom, therefore, to drive two or three times 
a year to the nearest large town, perhaps a liundred miles 
away, taking the products of the farm and exchanging 
them for necessary articles. 

These trips had to be few, for the roads were often 
rough, muddy, and dangerous. It might require two 
weeks or more to haul a load of grain to town and bring 
back the coffee and other materials the family wanted. 
In parts of the world, where there are few settlers, people 
are still living in this manner. 

But one family did not usually live long alone, for soon 
others came and settled near them. Perhaps several built 
their houses near together, forming a little village. 

Now that there were more people, the kind of work 



84 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

that each did began to change. Perhaps one of them 
built a saw-mill, and sawed lumber for the others when 
they needed it. Another spent part of his time at car- 
pentry work for his neighbors. A third built a grist-mill, 
and occasionally ground grain into flour. A fourth made 
shoes, or clothes, a part of his time, or he doctored the 
sick, or preached, or taught school. 

Perhaps the blacksmith spent all of his time in his shop, shoeing 
horses, making ploughs, etc., while the storekeeper did nothing but 
buy and sell goods. He went to the city and bought the supplies that 
he thought his neighbors would need, such as matches, boots, shovels, 
calico, and drugs, and these he kept in his store for sale. 

It was not then necessary for the farmer to go to the 
distant town, because he could usually find what he wanted 
at the store ; and if he raised more potatoes than he needed, 
he could take them to the storekeeper and get coffee in 
return. Or he would receive money for them, and with 
this pay the blacksmith who had shod his horses, or the 
doctor, or teacher. In many of the less settled parts of 
the country this is the way people are still living. 

Each year more people took up land, until most of it 
was carefully cultivated, and towns and cities grew up 
(Fig. 75}. Then they began to live in the way that is 
now so common. That is, each man now confines himself 
to one or a very few kinds of work, and depends upon other 
men for the other things that he needs. Those who live 
in the country are chiefly farmers, and raise the food that 
we eat. Others work in mines, digging coal, iron, lead, 
copper, silver, or gold out of the ground. 

Many, instead of raising crops or working in mines, are 
employed in mills and factories. One saws logs into 
lumber, or makes doors ; another manufactures cloth, 



INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 



85 



another needles, another shoes. Others follow the indus- 
try of tailormg, tanning hides for leather, making clocks, 
etc. 

Still others are engaged in a third kind of work. They 
do nothing but buy and sell such articles, and among these 
are all the merchants 
that we see 



m 



the 



stores. 




Under these conditions 
the work tliat one man 
does is not only of one 
kind, but it may be of a 
very narrow kind. For 
example, a man may do 
nothing but di-ive a team. 
Or he may make shingles, 
or drive nails, or tie up 
sacks of flour, or put in 
the heads of barrels. How 
different this is from the 
work of the pioneers ! 



As a rule, each 
town or city is spe- 
cially interested in 
one or a few kinds of 
business. For exam- 
ple, a town surrounded by extensive woods is likely to 
have an important lumbering industry. Another, in the 
midst of mountains, may make mining its especial work ; 
or another, near great wheat-fields, may have immense flour 
mills. 

Thus each town, like each man, is apt to be interested 
in the production of few things ; what they raise or man- 



FiG. 75. 

The city of Kochester, in New York, has grown 
up near these beautiful falls on the Gen- 
esee River. Some of the factories that use 
the water power are seen in the picture. 



86 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



ufacture is sent away in all directions, and the other arti- 
cles, that the people in the town want, are brought to them 
from the many places in which they are produced. Find 
out what is made in your own town, and some of the 
substances that are brought to it. 

When people are so dependent upon others for most of 
the materials that they use, it is clear that roadways be- 
come of great importance. For if the best wheat for flour 
is raised in Dakota, if the best shoes and cloth are made 
in New England, and if the thousand other things that 
we must have are produced in a thousand other places, 
what good will they do us if they cannot be brought to us ? 
The pioneers had no roads at first. When Lincoln's 
father moved to Indiana, he settled fifteen miles north of 

the Ohio River. 
There was no 
road from his 
place, and one 
of the hardest 
pieces of work he 
ever did was to 
cut one through 
the dense for- 
ests. 

One of the 
early customs 
was to follow a 
trail, or narrow path, and, instead of using a wagon, to 
carry goods strapped upon one's own back, or else upon 
horses or mules. A number of horses carrying packs 
formed a pack train (Fig. 76). Pack trains are still com- 
mon in some places. 




Fig. 76. 

A pack train, on a mountain road, carrying supplies 
to a mine on the mountain side. 



INBUSTBY AND COMMEBCE 



87 




Later, when roads were more common, they were often 
rough and muddy ; and as there were few bridges, streams 
often had to be waded ov forded. 

A great deal of labor has been spent in making good 
roads. Not only must trees be cut down and stumps and 
stones be re- 
moved, but 
steep places 
must often be 
levelled. 
Bridges are al- 
so necessary, 
and much work 
must be done 
to keep the 
roads in re- 
pair. In some 
places where 
there is much 

travel, as in eastern Massachusetts, great sums of money 
are spent in making excellent roads. 

There is so much carting in cities that their streets 
must be paved. Bricks are often used ; or stones larger 
than bricks are laid down side by side ; and in many 
cities, asphalt pavements are common. What kind of 
streets have you seen, and how were they built ? 

We have already (p. 50) considered the importance 
of rivers as roadways. When Abraham Lincoln was a 
young man, it was the custom to carry goods from his 
section of the country down the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers, all the way to New Orleans. These rivers were, 
in fact, the only good roadways to that great city. The 



Fig. 77. 

A long freight train, on the Northern Pacific Railway, 
crossing the Rocky Mountains. There is another 
engine in the naiddle of the train and a third on the 
rear end. 



88 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

goods were shipped upon flat-boats, and Lincoln himself 
made two such journeys. 

But railways are, in many respects, the best roads. 
Even with the finest of wagon roads, people and goods 
cannot usually be carried more than twenty to forty miles 
in a day. Boats are somewhat faster ; but railway trains 
travel from four hundred to a thousand miles per day, 
and they take both passengers and freight much more 
cheaply than they can be carried in wagons. 




Fig. 78. 
A view in a freight depot at St. Paul, Minnesota. 

As we ourselves travel on passenger trains, we are in- 
clined to think that the chief business of railways is to 
carry people ; but this is not generally the case. Their 
main business is to carry freight, such as grain, cattle, 
groceries, and machinery ; and by doing this they have 
had a great influence upon the development of the 
country. 

For example, a few years ago it would have done little 
good to raise sheep, wheat, and fruit in the far west, be- 
cause they could not be sent to the great cities to be sold ; 
but since the railways were built, these industries, and 



INDUSTRY AND COMMEECE 



89 



many others, have become 
of great importance. 
There is therefore much 
more buying, selling, and 
carrying — that is, much 
more commerce — than be- 
fore the railways were 
built. 

Letters, newspapers, 
and express packages are 
now carried very rapidly 
on the trains. Formerly they were sent in stage coaches 
or on horseback ; but now many passenger trains have 
one or two cars used for these purposes alone. 




Fig. 79. 
A freight yard with many freight cars. 




Fig. 80. 
A view in New York harbor showing the vessels coming and going. 

It is clear that good roadways, whether made of soil, 
water, or iron, are a great help to trade. In fact, without 
them there could be very little commerce. The wagon 



90 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

roads in the country and city are of great value in carry- 
ing goods for short distances as, for instance, to the river 
wharf or the railway station. Then boats and trains are 
used to carry them further. 

Not only is there commerce on the land, but, as we have 
already seen (p. 64), thousands of vessels are engaged in 
carrying freight on the ocean. They are constantly pass- 
ing up and down the coast of the United States, going 
from one city to another (Fig. 80) with loads of cloth, 
iron, grain, lumber, and hundreds of other articles. 

Vessels are also going and coming at all times between 
the United States and foreign countries, bringing materials 
which we need and taking back some of our products. 
This is known as foreign commerce. 

Review Questions. — (1) What do merchants do? (2) Who are 
pioneers? (3) Describe the house in which Abraham Lincoln lived 
when a boy. (4) Mention some of the different kinds of work that 
his father and mother had to do. (5) Tell about the trips to the 
nearest large town. 

(6) How did the work of each man change when the people began 
to live in villages ? (7) Give some examples. (8) What would you 
expect to see in a general store ? (9) Make a list of articles that 
are manufactured. (10) Name several industries. (11) How has 
the work of each man changed as great numbers of them have settled 
together? (12) In what ways have men become dependent upon one 
another ? Give examples. 

(13) Show that roads are of great importance. (14) What kind 
of roads did the early pioneers have ? (15) How did they cross the 
streams ? (16) Why must streets in cities be paved ? (17) In what 
respects are railways better than other roads ? (18) Tell how rail- 
ways have helped to develop our country. (19) What is meant by 
commerce? (20) By foreign commerce ? 

Suggestions. — (1) Make a list of the crops grown in your neigh- 
borhood. How is the work done ? (2) Do the same for manufactured 



INDVSTBY AND COMMERCE 91 

articles. (3) Have you read the life of Daniel Boone, the pioneer? 
(4) What were some of the things Robinson Crusoe had to do for him- 
self ? (5) Write a story describing an early pioneer's journey to the 
nearest large town. (6) Read more about the boyhood of Abraham 
Lincoln. 

(7) Visit a general store in the country. (8) Visit a factory, a 
blacksmith shop, or a mill. Describe the visit. (9) Make a list of 
articles that you use which were probably brought from a distance on 
the railroad or on water. (10) Find out where some of them came 
from. (11) What is meant by a ford ? The last syllable in the name 
of a great many towns is ford, as Hartford, Stamford, and Rockford ; 
what does that suggest to you ? (12) Visit a street where pavement 
is being laid. (13) Have improvements been made in any river near 
you? 

(14) What freight goods have you seen carried on the nearest rail- 
way? (15) Visit a freight house to see what is inside. (16) Find 
out where the boxes, etc., come from. (17) Count the number of 
freight cars and of passenger cars that run over the railway during 
one day. (18) Name as many substances as you can that come from 
over the ocean. (19) Write a story giving the history of the mate- 
rial of your dress or coat ; of your shoes. (20) Find out some facts 
about bananas as, for instance, where they are grown and how they 
are brought to you. Do the same for coifee, tea, sugar, and other 
articles of food. 

For References, see page 110. 



X. GOVERNMENT 

EvEEY boy and girl has heard men talk about voting^ 
and has noticed how interested they often become as 
election time approaches. 

But do you know what voting is for ? Do you know 
why the day for voting is called election day? Find out 
what you can about voting and election. 

LawB and officers are frequently mentioned when men 
are talking about election. Can you name some laws ; 
and do you know any officers ? You have certainly seen 
a policeman : what does he do ? You have heard of 
judges, and of the President : can you state anything 
about them ? Can you mention any other officers ? 

In our study of commerce we saw that it required a 
long time to reach our present way of living and carrying 
on trade. So it is with our government. At present we 
have many laws and officers, while long ago there were 
very few of each. Let us see why this is so. 

The farmer manages his farm nearly as he pleases. He 
puts up fences, sells his grain, or feeds it to stock, as seems 
to him best ; and when repairs are needed, he looks after 
them himself. The miller builds a large or small mill, 
uses old or new machinery, grinds much or little corn, and 
makes repairs, as he chooses. In eacrh case, one man owns 
and uses the property. 

But there are some things that no one man owns and 
that all wish to use. This is true, for instance, of roads. 

92 



GOVERNMENT 93 

All people drive or walk over them, yet they belong to no 
one person. Who, then, should build roads in the first 
place, and who should make necessary repairs on them ? 

This was one of the first questions that the pioneers of 
New England had to answer. The best way they saw of 
doing it, was for those who used the roads in a small 
section to meet together and decide, or vote, as to what 
should be done. That is, they made rules or laws about 
the roads ; then they elected men who should make it a 
part of their business to see that the roads were built, and 
that repairs were made, according to these laws. Such 
men were known as officers. 

Schools also are not owned by one person, and yet many wish to 
use them. Large yards, good buildings, and good teachers are all de- 
sirable ; but who should provide for them ? The pioneers of New 
England settled this matter also by voting and by electing officers to see 
that the schools were properly managed. 

Many other important matters were attended to in much the same 
manner. For example, there are usually some persons in every com- 
munity who are liable to take things that do not belong to them, or 
who are noisy and quarrelsome. The pioneers passed laws in regard 
to such offenders and elected officers, called constables, to arrest them 
when necessary. 

Thus far we have been considering only matters which 
could be settled by a small group of people living near 
together in a village or small town (Fig. 81). But there 
are some matters that cannot be settled in this manner, 
because other people, living far away, are also interested 
in them. 

For example, the managers of a railway company may 
charge too much for passengers and freight. In such 
cases laws may need to be passed, compelling them to 
charge reasonable rates. But as these railways are scores, 



94 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



or even hundreds, of miles long, the people of a single 
town could do very little with them. In that case it 
would be necessary for those living perhaps hundreds of 
miles apart to unite in some way in order to make laws. 

Again, it is important that there be buildings in which blind people 
may be properly cared for, in which the deaf and dumb may be edu- 
cated, and insane people confined. There must also be strong prisons 
where criminals may be sent. But in any one town there are not 
many such persons, and it would prove vei-y expensive to take proper 




Fig. 81. 

A small New England town, nestled in a valley among the hills, fields, and 
forests. Tell what you see in this picture. 

care of only a few. This is another reason why a number of people 
should unite to make laws on some matters. 

We have seen why there must be a town government, 
and now we see why there must also be a state government ; 
for a state is nothing more than a large section of country 
in which all the people unite to make and enforce laws. 

All the men of a state cannot assemble at one point, 
from a distance of one or two hundred miles, in order to 
attend to such matters. Even if they could make the 
journey at the time appointed, tliere would be so many of 



GOVERNMENT 



95 



them that they could not hear one another speak, and. 
little business could be carried on. 

For these reasons it is necessary for one man to be 
elected to represent many others. Where there are a 
great number of people, he may represent many thou- 
sands. 

Suppose, for instance, that there are a million people living in a 
state and that one man is elected to represent every ten thousand ; 
there will then be one hundred such men chosen, and it will be their 
duty to meet together to make laws for the whole million. 

Such men, being chosen to represent the others, are 
often called representatives; and because they legislate 
(which means " make 
laws "), they are to- 
gether called the legis- 
lature. 

In order to meet to- 
gether, these men must 
assemble in a certain 
place, and that place is 
called the cap)ital (cap- 
ital means head city) of 
the state. This is. a city, 
often near the centre of 
the state, in which there is a fine building, called the state 
capital (Fig. 82), where the representatives hold their 
meetings. 

We saw that in the town the people not only made 
laws, but elected men to see that they were enforced. Such 
men are necessary for the state also. The leading officer, 
chosen to enforce or execute the laws, is the governor^ 
sometimes called the chief executive. 




Fig. 82. 

The state capitol of Indiana at Indian- 
apolis. 



96 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



In large cities (Fig. 83) there are so many people that they must 
also be governed by representatives, as the people of the whole state 
are governed. The men who make the laws are often called alder- 
men and councillors, and the 
highest officer, elected to 
execute the laws, is known 
as the mayor. The building 
in which these representa- 
tives meet, and in which 
the mayor has his office, is 
the City Hall. While a city 
is governed by its own offi- 
cers in some matters, it is 
still a part of a state, and 
elects representatives to the 
state legislature. 



In our country there 
are many states, and 
there are some matters 
that no one state can 
decide alone, because 
all the others are equal- 
ly interested in them. 
For instance, it would 
be a great hindrance 
to travel and trade if 
each state made its own 
money ; for then each 
one might have a dif- 
ferent kind, with coins 
Every time a traveller 




Fig. 83. 

A crowded street in the great city of New 
York. Notice the high buildings and busy 
streets. Many officers are needed in such 
a city. Indeed, there are more police- 
men in New York City than there are 
men, women, and children in some towns. 



of different names and weights 
passed from the state of New York to Pennsylvania, or 
Massachusetts, he might be obliged to take the time and 
trouble to exchange his money for a new kind. 



GOVERNMENT 



97 



Again, in case of war it would be impossible to make much prog- 
ress if each state acted independently. Perhaps you can give some 
of the reasons why. Mail is another matter that concerns all the 
states, and there are still others besides. Can you mention some? 

So it is evident that we need a United States Grovern- 
ment, as well as state, city, and town governments. The 
reason for calling it the United States Government is also 
plain ; for the states have really united in order to have 
one central government for some of their most important 
affairs. 

If the people of a single state cannot meet in a body 
to make laws, certainly those of the entire United States 
cannot do so. Representatives are 
elected and sent, from all the states 
of the Union, to one place where 
they consider the affairs of the 
whole nation. The place where 
they meet is the city of Washing- 
ton, and it is on that account the 
capital of the United States. Here 
is a magnificent capitol building 
(Fig. 85) in which the meetings 
are held ; and there are many other 
great government buildings be- 
sides. (See Fig. 85.) 

The representatives from all the 
forty-five states of -the Union form 
what is known as Congress. This corresponds to the legis- 
lature of the states, the congressmen making laws for the 
nation, as the legislators do for the state. The members 
of Congress are called senators and representatives. The 
executive officer of the United States, corresponding to 




Fig. 84. 

A picture of George Wash- 
ington, after whom the 
capital is named. Find out 
what you can about him. 



98 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

the mayor of a city and the governor of a state, is called 
the President. He lives in Washington, and his residence 
is called the Executive Mansion, or the White House, 
since it is painted white (Fig. 85). 

Besides these officers who are elected by the people, 
there are a great many others appointed by the President 
to carry on the government work. Many live in Wash- 
ington, but some, as postmasters, live in other places. 

We have seen how the people in small towns arrange 
for their home government, and how, uniting with those 
in other towns, they elect some men to represent them at 
the state capital and others to represent them at the 
national capital. These representatives are elected by 
means of votes that are cast for them. 

Because the people make their own laws, our govern- 
ment is called a democracy . The first part of this word 
means "people," and the last part "government," so that 
the whole word means "government by the people." Be- 
cause the people do not make all the laws themselves, but 
allow their representatives to make them, it is often called 
a representative government or a republic. 

It is often said that our form of government makes us 
free and equal. People are by no means so free and equal 
in all countries. Under some governments, in Europe 
and Asia, the people have very little to say about the laws 
that shall govern them. Nor do the laws protect them 
all equally, for the high officers say freely what they think, 
while others do not dare to do this. They must obey 
their rulers blindly, just as little children are expected to 
obey their parents. 

Such a government cannot be called a democracy or a 
republic ; it is indeed a despotism.^ or an absolute monarchy. 




l.ofC. 



100 HOME GEOGBAPHY 

This means that the ruler is a despot^ or a monarch, hav- 
ing complete or absolute power to do what he chooses. 
For instance, he puts men to death without any trial, a 
thing that the laws of our country do not allow. China 
and Turkey are examples of this kind of government. 

There are other nations in which the people have more 
freedom than this, but not so much as we have. They 
are allowed freedom to do some things which they wish, 
while in other matters they are compelled to obey, with- 
out even asking any questions. Spain has a govern- 
ment of this kind. Since the people have some rights by 
which the monarch's power is checked or limited, this 
government is called a limited monarchy. Some limited 
monarchies, however, like England, allow a very con- 
siderable freedom. 

Review Questions. — (1) Name a few things that no one person 
owns and that all wish to use. (2) How did the pioneers arrange 
for roads? (3) Why was a constable necessary? (4) What are 
laws ? (5) Why must a great many towns and villages unite in order 
to make laws? (6) Name some of the objects for which they must 
unite. (7) What is a state? (8) How are laws made in states? 

(9) Why ai'e the men that are elected called representatives? 

(10) What is a legislature? (11) Where does it meet? In what 
building? (12) Where does the governor live? (13) Why must 
large cities also be governed by representatives ? (14) Name some 
of the city officers. Where do they meet? 

(15) Why should not each state make its own money? (16) Why 
are these states called the United States? (17) Where do the repre- 
sentatives of the United States meet? In what building? (IS) What 
is Congress? (19) What is the White House? (20) What does the 
word democracy mean? (21) Why is this government called a repub- 
lic ? (22) How are people in many other countries less free and equal 
than we are? (23) What is a despotism? An absolute monarchy? 
Give examples. (24) What is a limited monarchy ? Give an example. 



GOVERNMENT 101 

Suggestions. — (1) What persons repair the roads or streets where 
you live ? (2) How are they chosen ? (3) What officers look after 
the schools? (4) How is your constable or policeman uniformed? 
(5) Attend a trial to see how it is conducted. (6) What are taxes ? 
(7) In what state do. you live? (8) What is the name of your state 
capital ? (9) How far is it from your home, and in what direction ? 
(10) Who is the governor of your state? (11) If you live in a city, 
who is the mayor? Where is the City Hall? (12) Ask some friend 
who has travelled in foreign countries if he had much trouble with 
the different kinds of money. (13) What does U. S. stand for? 
(14) In what direction is the city of Washington from you, and how 
far is it? (15) Who is living in the White House now? (16) Where 
are the nearest polls for voting ? (17) Have some one show you how 
he votes. (18) What is meant by the statement that a " majority 
rules " ? 

For References, see page 110. 



XI. MAPS 




Fig. 86. 

Picture of a schoolroom which is 32 feet long 
and 32 feet wide. 



We often wish to represent a country upon a map so as 
to tell, at a glance, its shape, and where the mountains, 

rivers, and cities are 
located. Such a draw- 
ing can be made of any 
place, no matter how 
large or small it is. 

Suppose we desired 
to draw only a school- 
room (Fig. 86), which 
is perhaps 32 feet long 
and 32 feet wide. It 
would not be easy to 
find a piece of paper 
so large as that, and it would not be necessary to do so. 
A small piece would do, because 1 inch upon it could be 
allowed to represent several feet in the room. 

In this case let an inch stand for 16 feet. Since the room is 32 
feet on each side, and there are two 16's in 32, the drawing will be 
just two inches long and two wide. To place the desks and aisles 
properly, we wiU need to use a ruler divided into sixteenths, for one 
foot in the room represents ^^ of an inch on the ruler. 

The ends arid sides are marked (Fig. 87) north, east, south, and 
west. The teacher's desk is 3i feet in front of the north wall. There 
is a row of desks about 4 feet from the west wall. The desks are 
just 2 feet long, with eight in a row 1^ feet apart. There ai-e seven 
rows ; and the aisles between them are each 1^ feet wide. Here is a 

102 



MAPS 



103 



SIDE 
AISLE 



map of the schoolroom 
(Fig. 87). Measure 
each part to see if it h as 
been drawn correctly, 
using a foot rule that 
shows the sixteenths 
of inches. How lai'ge is 
the desk ? The piano ? west 

When a person 
draws in this way, 
letting a certain 
distance on the 
paper represent a 
much greater one, 
he is said to use a 
scale, or to make a 
map according to a 
scale. In the school- 
room just described (Fig. 87), the scale is 1 inch to 16 feet. 

In the next drawing, that of the school yard (Fig. 88), 
the scale must be much larger, because the yard is so 



/ -o. 



C:^ LZJ LJ LZI LJ LJI L^ 
CJ LZ! [^ ^] [^ ^1 [Z] 

□ :!]□□□□□ 

□□□□□□□ 

CZI □ □ □ nU LZI LU 
LU CZI □ □ □ CJ □ 

LZI □ □ □ CZl LU CJ 
C] □ □ □ □ □ □ 



SOUTH 

I I I I I I I I I 



-,^ 



I I I 



2 i 6 8 10 12 14 16 



Fig. 87. 
A map of the schoolroom shown in Figure 86. 




Fig. 



Picture of a school yard. Figure 89 shows a map of this. 



104 



HOME GEOGRAPHY 



much larger than the room. Here one inch represents 
140 feet. According to that scale, find out how large 
the yard and the school building are (Fig. 89). Find 
how far the trees are from each other, from the nearest 
fence, and from the building. 

Can you not make a map of your own schoolroom? What scale 
will you use? Put in your own desk, but omit the others, if you 
wish. 

You might also draw a map of your school yard. If you prefer to 
do so, find its size by stepping or pacing it off, making each of your 

steps about two 

NORTH '^ 

feet long. Meas- 
ure the building 
in the same way. 
After having fin- 
ished these two 
maps, draw a 
third one, includ- 
ing in it not only 
the school yard, 
but also a few 
of the neighbor- 
ing streets and 
houses. The scale 
for this might per- 
haps be 1 inch for 
every 500 steps. 

All maps are drawn to a scale in this way, whether they represent 
a school yard, a state, the United States, or even something still larger. 
Opposite page 140 you will find a map of North America. On what 
scale is it drawn ? Look at some other maps to find out the scale. 

Maps are used a great deal to show the direction of one 
place from another. But a person must first understand 
what is meant by north, south, east, and west. Probably 
you already know that. 















^ 




Sci<^Miutf 








iv 












/>«» 




A. 




•^ 




o.««« 












^fcrnr 



35 



70 



105 



Scale in feet: 1 inch equals 140 feet. 

Fig. 89. 
A map of the school yard shown in the picture, Fig. 



MAPS 



105 




One of the easiest ways to find the direction is by a 
compass (Fig. 90). This is simply a piece of steel, called 
a needle, that swings about easily and always points to 
the north. It is magnetized, like the horseshoe magnets 
that you have seen, and it points north- 
ward, because something draws it in that 
direction ; but no one knows certainly 
what this "something" is. 

When the stars are shining, one can 
tell which direction is north by the help 
of the Great Dipper. The two stars on 
the edge of the Dipper point toward the 
North Star. It is so bright that it can 
be easily picked out, and it is always to 
the north of us. 

One can also find direction by the help 
of the sun ; for, as you know, it rises in 
the east and sets in the west. Accord- 
ingly, when one faces the rising sun, his 
right side is to the south and his left to 
the north. Which direction is on his right and left when 
he faces the west ? The south ? The north ? 

Northeast means half way between north and east. Southeast 
means half way between south and east. What, then, do northwest 
and southwest mean ? 

Point north, east, west, south, southwest, northeast, northwest. 
Walk a few feet in each direction. What direction is your desk 
from that of your teacher ? From the desks of your friends ? From 
the door ? What direction is your home from the schoolhouse ? From 
other houses ? In what directions do some of the streets extend ? 



Fig. 90. 

compass. The 
letter N means 
north. What do 
the other letters 
stand for ? Notice 
that the needle 
is pointing north 
and south. 



Now let US tell directions on the map. Lay your draw- 
ing of the schoolroom upon your desk, so that the line 



106 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

representing the north side of the room is toward the 
north. Also place yourself so that you are facing di- 
rectly north as you look at the map. If your desk faces 
the wrong way for this, turn round, or put your map 
upon the floor. Now, north on the map is also north in 
the room, and the other directions on the map correspond 
with those in the room. In which direction, on the map, 
is the door from your desk? From the teacher's desk? 
Place your map of the school yard in the same position 
and give the directions. 

You see that the north side of this map is the side fur- 
thest from you ; the east side is on your right, the south 
next to you, and the west is on your left. When a map 
is lying before us, we usually look at it from this position. 

But it is not always convenient to have a map lying 
down, especially in the schoolroom, where it must be hung 
up so that the whole class may see it. 

Let us hang up one of these maps and take particular 
pains to put it upon the north wall. Which direction on 
the map is north now ? It is evident that the north side 
must be up, while east is on the right, south is down, and 
west is on the left. Certain lines, called lines of longi- 
tude, extend due north and south, and others, called lines 
of latitude, east and west. You should drill yourself to 
understand directions on maps. 

Give the directions of objects from one another while the map is 
hanging up. Put up the map of the school yard, and any others that 
you have, and tell the directions from one place to another.^ 

1 After the children are quite at home in using the map when it is 
hung on the north wall, hang it on other sides of the room and have them 
give the directions. This is easy work if properly graded ; but the fact 
that many children studying geography are confused in regard to direc- 
tions on the map suggests that caution be exercised. 












^ 




^ ' 


— -- 


*"■• 




-,/ , 


jSfef- 










mi-. 




■-^^ 


^' 



. Fig. 91. 

To show what maps mean. The left-hand figures show the country as if you were 
looking down upon it; the right-hand figures represent the same country on 
maps. Tell what you see in each of these. 



MAPS 107 

It is clear now what a map is. It is a drawing telling 
something about a country, just as a letter may be some 
writing telling something concerning a friend. When you 
read such a letter, you think of your friend, how he 
looks, what he has been doing, etc. So when you look at 
a map, you should think about the country, how it looks, 
how far apart the places are, etc. 

There is more than one kind of map. On page 138 there 
is a picture of North America. It shows how that conti- 
nent might appear if you looked down upon it from some 
point far above. A picture like this, showing the moun- 
tains and valleys, is called a relief map. That is, it gives 
you some idea of the relief or height of the land.^ 

The maps that you have been drawing do not show this. 
They are flat maps, representing the country as if it were 
a flat surface. Opposite page 140 you will find a flat 
map of North America. Compare it with the relief map 
on page 138 to see the difference. 

In Figure 91 you will see the way in which flat maps are 
made to represent the land and water. No attempt is 
made on the flat maps to show just what the country 
looks like, that is, to represent its relief. They represent 
the position and direction of towns, rivers, lakes, etc. just 
as if the country were perfectly flat. 

For References, see page 110. 

1 If it seems desirable, the teacher may introduce the study of contour 
maps at this point. The children could draw a contour map of their own 
neighborhood, and then possibly make a relief map from it by cutting out 
pieces of pasteboard that correspond to the spaces between the Lines. 
Relief maps may also be constructed by modelling in sand. 



REFERENCES TO DESCRIPTIONS, IN PROSE AND POETRY, 
OF TOPICS TREATED IN HOME GEOGRAPHY. FOR 
TEACHER AND PUPIL 



McM. means The Macmillan Co., New York; Ginn, Ginn & Co., Boston, 
Mass. ; A. B. C, The American Book Co., New York; S. B. C, Silver, Burdeti 
& Co., New York; Heath, D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, Mass. 



Section I. The Soil. — King, "The Soil" (McM., §0.75); Tair, 
" Elementary Geology," Chapters VI, XI, and pp. 475-487 (McM., 
11.40); Shaler, "First Book in Geology," pp. 2J^29 (Heath, 80.60). 
Also other geologies. Nature Study Quarterly, No. 2, October, 1899 
(Cornell University, CoUege of Agriculture, Ithaca, N.Y. Free on 
application) ; Kingsley, " JNIadam How and Lady Why," Chapter lY, 
"The Transformation of a Grain of Soil" (McM., 80.50); Wilson, 
" Nature Study in Elementary Schools. Teacher's Manual," p. 177 
(McM., 80.90); Frye, "Brooks and Brook Basins," section on "How 
Soil is made and carried" (Ginn, 80.58); Strong, "All the Year 
Round," Part II, sections 7 and 8 (Ginn, 80.30). 

Section II. Hills. — Whittier, "Among the Hills" (poem); Whit- 
tier, " The Hilltop " (poem) ; Hutchinson, " The Story of the Hills " 
(McM., 81.50). 

Section III. Mountains. — Lubbock, "The Beauties of Nature," 
Chapters Y and YI (the former on forests) (McM., 81-50) ; Jordan, 
" Science Sketches," section on " The Ascent of the Matterhorn " 
(A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 81-50) ; Whymper, " Chamonis and 
Mont Blanc " (Scribner, New York, 81-20) ; Whymper, " Travels 
amongst the Great Andes " (Scribner, New York, 82.50) ; Tarr, " Ele- 
mentary Geology," Chapter XYII (McM., 81.40); Tarr, "Elementary 
Physical Geography," Chapter XIX (Mc]\L, 81-^0); Shaler, "First 
Book in Geology," Chapter Y (Heath, 80.60) ; Kingsley, "Madam How 
and Lady Why," Chapter V, " The Ice Plough " (McM., 80.50). 

108 



EEFEBENCES 109 

Sections IV and V. Valleys and Rivers. — Tarr, "Elementary 
Geology," Chapters Vl-X ; " Elementary Physical Geography," Chap- 
ters XV and XVI (each, McM., $1.40); Shaler, "First Book in 
Geology," Chapter VI (Heath, $0.60) ; Payne, " Geographical Nature 
Studies," sections on " Valleys," " Plants of the Valleys," and " Animals 
of the Vallej-s " (A. B. C, $0.25) ; Kingsley, " Madam How and Lady 
V^hy," Chapter I, "The Glen" (McM., $0.50); Frye, "Brooks and 
Brook Basins" (Ginn, $0.58); Lubbock, "The Beauties of Nature," 
Chapters VII and VIII (McM., $1.50). Poems : " The Brook," Ten- 
nyson ; " The River," Samuel G. Goodrich ; " The Mad River," Long- 
fellow ; " The FaUs of Lodore," Southey ; " The Brook and the Wave," 
Longfellow; " A Water Song," E. G. W. Rowe ; "The Endless Story," 
A. K. Eggleston ; " The Impatient River," E. G. W. Rowe ; the last 
three in Payne, "Geographical Nature Studies" (A. B. C, $0.25). 

Section VI. Ponds and Lakes. — Shaler, "First Book in Geology," 
pp. 125-129 (Heath, $0.60) ; Tarr, "Elementary Geology," pp. 188-193, 
and "Elementary Physical Geography," pp. 298-304 (each, McM., 
$1.40) ; Lubbock, " The Beauties of Nature," Chapter VIII (McM., 
$1.50) ; Payne, " Geographical Nature Studies," section on " Pools, 
Ponds, and Lakes" (A. B. C, $0.25); "The Lakeside," poem, by 
Whittier. 

Section VII. The Ocean. — Shaler, " Sea and Land" (Scribner, New 
York, $2.50); Tarr, "First Book of Physical Geography," Part III 
(McM., $1.10); Lubbock, "The Beauties of Nature," Chapter IX 
(McM., $1.50); Andrews, "Stories Mother Nature Told Her Chil- 
dren," section on "Sea Life" (Ginn, $0.50); Holland, "The Sea 
Voyage," in " Arthur Bonnicastle " ; Dickens, " David Copperfield," 
Chapter V; "Robinson Crusoe," Chapter III; Taylor, "Tho Waves," 
"Wind and Sea," in Marble's "Nature Pictures by American Poets" 
(McM., $1.25); Coleridge, "The Ancient Mariner." 

Section VIII. The Air. — Tarr, "First Book of Physical Geog- 
raphy," Part II (M-cM., $1.10); "A Summer Shower," "Cornell 
Nature Study Bulletin," No. 1, June, 1899 (free on application to 
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.) ; Murche, " Science Reader," Book 
III, sections on " Air," " Vapor in the Air," " Vapor : What becomes 
of It?" "What the Atmosphere Is," " Ice, Hail, and Snow " (McM., 
$0.40) ; Frye, " Brooks and Brook Basins," sections on " Forms of 
Water" and "The Atmosphere in Motion" (Ginn, $0.58); Strong, 



110 HOME GEOGRAPHY 

" All the Year Round," Part IT, sections 33-39 (Ginu, ^0.30); Andrews, 
" Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children," section on " The Frost 
Giants " (Ginn, §0.50) ; Payne, " Geographical Nature Studies," 
many excellent stories and poenis (A. B. C, §0.25) ; " Nature Pic- 
tures by American Poets " : " Summer Shower," Dickinson ; " Rain," 
De Land ; " Song of the Snowflakes," Cheney ; '• Cloudland," Cheney 
(McM., §1.25) ; Wilson, " Nature Study in Elementary Schools," Sec- 
ond Reader, the following poems: '-The Rain Shower," "The Wind 
Song," " The Bag of Winds," " The Sunbeams," " Sno^'flakes," " Signs 
of Rain," "The Rainbow" (McM., §0.35); Lovejoy, "Nature in 
Verse," the following poems : " Merry Rain," " The Clouds," " The 
Dew," "The Fog," "The Rain," "The Snow," "The Frost," "Jack 
Frost," " Little Snowflakes " (S. B. C, §0.60) ; Shelley, " The Cloud " ; 
WTiittier, " The Frost Spirit " ; Bryant, " The Hurricane " ; Whittier, 
" Snowbound " ; Irving, " The Thunderstorm " (prose) • 

Section IX. Industry and Commerce. — Payne, " Geogi'aphical Nature 
Studies," sections on "Occupations," "Trade or Commerce," "Trans- 
portation by Land," " Transportation by Water " (A. B. C, §0.25) ; 
Andrews, " The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children," section on 
"The Carrying Trade" (Ginn, §0.50); Whittier, "Songs of Labor." 

Section X. The Government. — Brooks, " Century Book for Young 
Americans" (Century Co., New York, §1.50); Brooks, "The Story of 
the L'nited States " (The Lothrop Publishing Co., Boston, §1.50) ; Wil- 
son, " Nature Study in Elementary Schools," Second Reader, section on 
"Boyhood of Lincoln" (McM., §0.35); Payne, " GeogTaphical Nature 
Studies," section on " Government " (A. B. C, §0.25). 

Section XI. Maps. — Excellent outline maps of states and conti- 
nents, costing 1^ to 2 cents each, can be purchased from D. C. Heath 
& Co., Boston, Rand, McNally, & Co., Chicago, and other publishers. 
Maltby, "Map Modeling" (E. L. Kellogg & Co., New York, §1.00); 
Kellogg, " Geography by ]Map Drawing " (same publishers, §0.30) ; 
Redway, " The Reproduction of Geographical Forms " (§0.30) and 
" Teacher's Manual of Geogi-aphy " (§0.65) (both by Heath) ; Frye, 
"The Child and Nature" (Ginn, §0.80); Frye, "Sand and Clay 
Modeling " (Butler, Sheldon & Co., New York, §0.10); Frye, " Teacher's 
Manual of ^Methods in Geography" (Ginn, §0.50); Kellogg, "How to 
Teach Clay Modeling " (E. L. Kellogg & Co., New York, §0.2.5); King, 
" The Picturesque Geographical Readers," First Book, Lesson XIH 
(Lee & Shepard, Boston, §0.50). 



Paet II 
THE EAETH AS A ■WHOLE 



oJO^c 



I. FOEM AND SIZE OF THE EARTH i 

Its Form. — Hundreds of years ago, before America 
was discovered, men thought the earth was flat. They 
travelled so little that they had no idea of its form or of 
its size. 

A few men who had studied the matter believed that 
the earth was a round ball, and that if one travelled 
straight on in any direction, he would in time return to 
the place from which he started. You can understand 
this by pushing your finger around on the outside of an 
orange, until it comes back to the starting-point. 

Christopher Colurabub beUeved this, and went to Spain, hoping to 
obtain money to secure ships for a long vovage to prove it. 

Men were at that time in the habit of going to a land, called India, 
for spices, silks, and jewels. To reach India from Spain they travelled 
thousands of miles eastward; but Columbus said that if the earth 
were round, lite a ball, India might be reached by going westward 
across the ocean, and the distance would be much less. He therefore 
asked the king of Spain for ships and men to make such a journey. 

The king refused the request, because the idea seemed ridiculous; 
but the queen came to his aid, and, at last, on August 3, 1492, he 

1 The use of a globe in this study is very important. Small globes 
may be obtained from dealers in school supplies at a very slight cost. 

Ill 



112 



THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 



sailed westward on a voyage from which many thought he would 
never return ; but, after a journey of several weeks, land was reached 
on October 12th. 

Thinking he had reached India, he called the natives Indians ; but 
instead of that he had discovered Cuba and other islands near the 
coast of North America ; a continent and large ocean still lay between 
him and India. These newly discovered lands became known as the 
New World, to distinguish them from the Old World, where all white 
men then lived. 




Fig. 92. 

Columbus landing in America and taking possession of it in the name of the 
King of Spain. 

After Columbus returned in safety, other men dared to 
explore the New World. One of them, named Magellan, 
started to sail round the earth ; and though he was killed 
when he had reached the Philippine islands, his ships 
went on and completed the journey. Since then many 
people have made the voyage in various directions, and 
the earth has been studied so carefully that every one 
now knows it is round. 

The great, round earth is also called the globe or sphere. 



FORM ANB SIZE OF THE EARTH 



113 



NORTH POLE 



The reason that it does not seem round to us, is that we 
see so little of it at a time. 

If you see very little of an orange, it will not look round either. 
To prove this, place upon an orange a piece of paper with a small hole in 
it, so that none of the surface is seen 
excepting that which shows through 
the hole. This part does not appear 
round, but flat. 

If we could get far enough 

away from the earth to see a 

large part of it at once, as we 

are when looking at an orange, 

or at the moon, we would easily 

be able to observe its roundness 

(Fig. 93). 
Size of the Earth. — Our 

sphere is so large that even the 

highest mountains, when compared to the whole earth, 
are no larger than a speck of dust 
when compared to an apple. .Lofty 
mountains are rarely more than three 
or four miles high ; but the diameter 
of the earth, or the distance from one 
side to the other, through the centre 
of the earthy is nearly eight thousand 
miles. 




SOUTH POLE 



Fig. 93. 
The sphere. 




Fig. 94. 

Figure of the earth 
cut in two, to show 
the diameter, the 
line passing through 
the centre (c). 
I 



The circumference of the earth, or the dis- 
tance around the outside of it, is about twenty- 
five thousand miles. This is a little more than 
three times the diameter, and you will find 
that the cii'cumference of any sphere is always 
a little more than three times its diameter. 
Prove this with an orange. 



114 THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 

Review Questions. — (1) What did people formerly know about 
the shape of the earth? (2) ^^llat is its form? (3) Tell the story 
of Columbus. (4) Why did he call the savages Indians? (5) Why 
was the land he discovered called the New World? (6) Tell about 
Magellan's voyage. (7) Explain why the earth does not appear to 
us to be a sphere. (8) What is the diameter of the earth? The cir- 
cumference? (9) The latter is how many times the former? 

Suggestions. — (1) Read something about the life of Columbus. 
(2) Read about Magellan. (3) Find the names of some other early 
explorei's and read about them. (4) Trace Columbus's journey on a 
globe to see where he actually went. Find India in order to see 
where he thought he had gone, and notice how one can go to India 
by travelling eastward as well as westward. (5) JMake a sphere in 
clay. Measure its diameter with a needle. (6) How many proofs 
can you find that the earth is round ? Find out how we know that 
it is like a ball and not like a cylinder. (7) Write a story about 
Columbus. (8) Trace on a globe the route followed by our soldiers 
who went to the Philippines ; of Admiral Dewey when he returned 
by way of the INIediterranean. How many days are required for such 
a journey? (9) Obtain a telescope or an opera glass and look through 
it at the moon. 

Foe References, see page 257. 



II. DAILY MOTION OF THE EARTH, AND ITS 
RESULTS 



JO'' 



The Axis and Poles. — The earth seems to us to be 
motionless, while the sun appears to move round it each 
day, rising in the east and setting in 
the west. But in reality neither of 
these things happens. 

Instead of being without motion, 
the earth is whirling round ^vith 
tremendous speed. You have per- 
haps watched a wheel spin about 
upon a rod or pin, and have noticed 
that the outside goes rapidly, while 
the part near the jjin moves much 
more slowly. It is the same with 
the earth; and just as we speak of 
the wheel turning upon a pin, so we 
speak of the earth turning upon its 




Fig. 95. 



A drawing of the earth 
cut through to show 
the axis and poles. 



But the axis of a wheel is something real, while the axis 
of the earth is merely a line that we think of as reaching 
through the eartli-'s centre and extending to the surface 
in both directions. 

The two ends of this axis are called the poles of the earth, 
one end being the north pjole, the other the south pole. 

Allowing an apple to represent the earth, a knitting needle or a 
stick pushed through its centre would represent its axis, and the two 

116 



116 



THE EABTH AS A WHOLE 



North Pole 



ends on the surface, the two poles. You can then spin the apple, 
very much as the earth spins (Fig. 97). 

If you were to go directly north from the place where you live, you 
would in time come to the north pole ; or, if far enough south, to the 
south pole. Many men have tried to cross the icy seas (Fig. 100) that 
surround the north pole. If one ever reaches that point, he will not 
find a pole ; but the north star, toward which the axis points, will be 
almost directly overhead. 

The Equator. — Midway between these poles, we think 
of another line drawn around the earth on the outside. 

This is called the equator^ be- 
cause all parts of it are equally 
distant from each of the poles. 
On page 113 the distance 
around the earth was given ; 
what, then, is the length of the 
equator ? 

As the earth spins on its axis, all 
points on the sui'face must go with 
it, as every part of the skin of an 
apple turns with it. Since the earth 
makes one complete turn each day, a 
man at the equator travels twenty- 
five thousand miles every twenty-four 
hours. What a whirling motion that 
is ! It is at the rate of over one thousand miles an hour, while the 
fastest trains run little more than sixty miles an hour. 

Why do not places considerably north or south of the equator move 
as rapidly as those at the equator ? 

Gravity. — What, then, is to hinder our flying away 
from the earth, just as, when a stone is whirled about on 
a string, it flies away the moment the string breaks ? And 
why is not all the water hurled from the ocean? 




Fig. 96. 

A drawing of that half of the 
sphere containing the New 
World, — to show the position 
of the poles and the equator. 



DAILY MOTION OF THE EARTH 117 

The reason is that the earth draws everything toward 
it. If you push a book from your desk, it falls to the 
floor; and when you spring into the air, you quickly 
return to the ground. All objects are drawn dowmvard, 
because the earth is pulling upon them. It attracts them 
much as a horseshoe magnet attracts pieces of iron. 

The force with which the earth draws all objects toward 
it is called gravity ; and it is because of gravity that the 
water, trees, houses, and we ourselves, do not fly off when 
the earth is turning at such a tremendous speed. 

Sunrise and Sunset. — The sun seems to rise in the east 
and set in the west. This could not be the case if the 
earth did not turn or rotate toward the east ; for all 
heavenly bodies must first appear in the direction toward 
which the earth turns. This eastward rotation of the 
earth, therefore, explains why the sun seems to rise and 
set as it does. 

Hundreds of years ago people thought that the sun actually rose, 
and, after moving across the heavens, set in the west. We still use 
the words " sunrise " and " sunset " which they used, although we 
know that the sun appears to rise only because the earth rotates. 

Day and Night. — It is this rotation that causes day 
and night. A lamp can light only one-half of a ball at 
a time, as you know. So the sun can light only half of 
the great earth ball at one time. This being the case, if 
our globe stood perfectly still, there would always be day 
on the half next to the sun, and night on the other half. 

But since the earth rotates, the place where it is day 
is constantly changing ; and while the sun is setting for 
people far to the east of us, it is rising for those far to 
the west. When it is noon where you live, it is midnight 
on the other side of the earth. Thus each place has its 



118 THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 

period of daylight and darkness ; and as the earth makes 
one complete rotation every twenty-four hours, the day 
and night together must last just that length of time- 




FiG. 97. 

An apple lighted by a caudle ou one side, to illustrate the cause of day 

and night. 

Kevieav Questions. — (1) What motion has the earth? (2) What 
is the axis of the earth? (3) The north pole? The south pole? 
(4) Represent the axis and poles by using an apple. (5) Walk toward 
the north pole. Toward the south pole. (6) What is the equator? 
(7) How long does it require for the earth to turn completely around 
once? (8) AYhat rate of travel is that, for a point upon the equator? 
(9) Why are we not thrown away from the earth? (10) Give sev- 
eral examples showing what is meant by gravity. (11) In what 
direction is the earth rotating ? (12) How does that explain sunrise 
and sunset? (13) What causes night? (14) What would be the 
result if the earth did not rotate? (15) AYhen it is noon here, what 
time is it on the other side of the earth? (16) How long must the 
day and night together last? Why? 



DAILY MOTION OF THE EARTH 119 

Suggestions. — (1) Point out the axis of a wheel; of a top; of a 
rotating ball ; of a spinning globe. (2) Mark the two poles on an 
apple or ball, and then draw a line for the equator. (3) Mould a 
sphere in clay, and show the poles and the equator. Cut it in half, 
and mark a line for the axis. (4) Find exactly how many miles a 
point on the equator moves each hour. (5) Use a horseshoe magnet 
to attract pieces of iron. (6) Use a globe, or apple, and a lamp to show 
why the sun appears to rise and set, and why it is day on one side 
while it is night on the other. (7) Watch the stars in the east some 
night, to see which way they appear to move. (8) Why do not the 
clouds appear to move westward also ? (9) Is the sun always shin- 
ing during the day ? Why, then, do we not always see it ? (10) Who 
was Atlas? Who was Aurora? (11) Find out what the ancients 
supposed became of the sun each night. (12) When it is noon here, 
what time is it one-fourth of the distance around the earth to the 
east ? To the west ? 

For References, see page 258. 



III. THE ZONES 




TORHUI Z()>E 



\ic,0-«''^*^ 



,k .f Capri i 
TEKPER 




Boundaries of the Zones. — The sun's rays feel warmer 
at noon than in the early evening because the sun is more 

nearly overhead at noon, and 
the rays then reach us nearly 
vertically. 

For the same reason the sun 
seems hotter in summer than in 
winter, and in some parts of 
the earth than in others. 

The hottest part of the earth 
is near the equator, for in that 
region the sun at midday is di- 
rectly over the heads of the 
people. That is the case, for a 
part of the year, as far north as 
the line on the map (Fig. 98) 
marked tropic of Cancer^ and as 
far south as the one marked 
tropic of Capricorn. Point to them on Figures 119 and 
120. These lines are more than three thousand miles 
apart, a distance greater than that across the United States 
from Boston to San Francisco ; and over that vast area 
the heat is intense, or torrid. Those who live there wear 
only the very lightest clothing, and the savages have 
almost none (Fig. 99). 

But further north and south the heat becomes less and 

120 



:«ct>c Cfr 



Fig. 98. 

A map of the zones. The colors 
suggest sharp differences be- 
tween the zones on the two 
sides of the boundaries ; but 
you should remember that the 
' changes are very gradual. 



THE ZONES 



121 



less intense, because the rays of tlie sun, even at noon, 
approach the earth at a greater slant. There is a region, 
then, on each side of this broad hot belt, where it is neither 
very hot nor very cold, but temperate. 

Finally, near the poles, the rays are very slanting, as 
they are in our early morning or late afternoon. There 
it is so cold, or frigid^ that the ground never thaws out, 
the ice never entirely disappears, and very little vegeta- 
tion can grow. 

Torrid Zone. — Thus one part of the earth has a hot 
climate. There the noonday sun is always so directly 
over the heads of the 
inhabitants that they 
never have winter. 

This hot region ex- 
tends entirely around 
the earth, like a great 
belt, and the equator 
is in the middle of 
it. This is called the 
tropical belt, or the 
tropical or torrid zone, 
and sometimes the 
equatorial belt. Why 
the latter name ? 

Temperate Zones. 
— On the north and 
south sides of this 
are the two temperate 
zones. People living 
in the north temperate zone find the sun to the south of 
them at noon, even in summer ; and their shadows always 




Fig. 99. 

Philippine savages hunting; their home is in 
the torrid zone, and they need almost no 
clothing. 



122 THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 

fall toward the north. But in the south temperate zone the 
midday sun is always in the north. Which way must the 
shadows fall in that zone ? 

Notice the position of the sun at midday where you live, and also 
the direction and length of your shadow at that time. In which of 
the temperate zones do you live ? 




Fig. 100. 

Cape York Eskimos, Greenland, in their summer dress, standing by their 
sleds on the ice-covered sea. 

Frigid Zones. — North of the north temperate zone, and 
south of the south temperate, are the frigid zones, where 
the sun is never high in the heavens, but even at midday 
is near the horizon. There the shadows are very long, as 
the}^ are with us in the late afternoon. In consequence, 
while at the equator there is never any winter, near the 
poles there is never any real summer weather. 

The northern of these zones is called the north frigid 



TEE ZONES 123 

zone (Fig". 100) ; the southern, the south frigid zone. They 
are also known as the polar zones, since they surround the 
poles. 

It is so cold that no one has ever been able to reach either of the 
poles. These are surrounded by miles and miles of snow and ice, and 
vessels hundreds of miles away from them are in danger of being 
crushed by ice, or held by it so that they cannot move. 

Hjmispheres. — The half of our sphere north of the equator is 
called the northern hemisphere (or half sphere), the southern half, the 
southern hemisphere. The earth is also divided into halves by a circle 
running north and south through both poles, the western half, con- 
taining the New World, being called the western hemisphere, and the 
eastern half, containing the Old World, the eastern hemisphere. 

Review Questions. — (1) What is the cause for the great heat in 
the torrid zone ? (2) What are its boundaries? (3) What other zones 
are there ? What are their boundaries ? (4) In which direction does 
the midday sun lie in each zone? (6) In which direction do the 
shadows then fall? (6) Why should the heat grow less, the farther 
one travels from the equator? (7) Why has no one ever been able to 
reach either pole ? (8) Which part of the earth has no cold weather ? 
(9) Which part has no hot weather? (10) Point out the zones in 
Figure 98. (11) Represent them in a drawing of your own. 
(12) Name the hemispheres and tell where each is. 

Suggestions. — (1) Find out more about the reason why the sun's 
rays are hotter when the sun is overhead than when it is low in the 
heavens. (2) Write a story telling about the changes in clothing 
you would need to make in passing from the north to the south pole. 
(3) In which direction would you look to see the sun at noon on such 
a journey? (4) How might the changes in heat affect the growth of 
trees and other plants? (5) How would the direction of your shadow 
change? Its length? (6) If there were no watches or clocks, how 
could you tell the time of day from the sun? (7) Find out about 
some of the men who have tried to reach the north pole. (8) In 
which zone should you prefer to live ? Why ? (9) Explain how some 
places in the temperate zone are warmer than some in the torrid 
zone. For references, see p. 258. 



IV. HEAT WITHIN THE EARTH, AND ITS 
EFFECTS 

Heat in Mines. — While much is known about the sur- 
face of the earth, very little is certain about its interior. 
The reason for this is that people cannot go far down 
below the surface in order to see what is there. 




Fig. 101. 

Melted rock, from a volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, flowing over the face 
of a precipice into the water. 

Ill some places there are mines reaching fully a mile 
below the surface. This may seem a great depth ; but 
when it is remembered that it would be necessaiy to go four 
thousand times as far to reach the center, it is plain that 
this is really a short distance. A mile below the surface 
of the eartli is not so much as the thickness of the skin of 
an apple, compared with the thickness of the apple itself. 

124 



HEAT WITHIN THE EARTH 



125 



In all of these mines, and in many deep wells, men find 
solid rock, usually covered at the surface with soil ; but 
no one has ever gone beyond this rock. 

It is interesting to note that the farther miners have 
dug down into the earth, the warmer they have found it. 
The thermometer rises about one degree for every fifty or 
sixty feet, and some mines, as they have been deepened, 
have become so hot that men could no longer work in them. 

Melted Rock. — This has led to the belief that, if it were possible 
to go still deeper, the earth would be found to grow hotter and 
hotter, until, several miles below the surface, it might be hot enough 
to melt rocks. 

Another fact leading to the same belief is that, in some regions, 
melted rock, called lava, actually flows out of the earth, and then 
cools to form solid rock (Fig. 101). In some places so much lava has 
flowed forth at different times, and collected about the opening called 
the crater, that a mountain 
peak has been built. Such 
peaks are called volcanoes 
(Fig. 102), and some of them 
are many thousand feet high. 

The Earth's Crust. — 

From a study of the 
earth it seems certain 
that, although the out- 
side is now cold, it was 
once hot, and that the 
mass within is still hot. 
It may be compared to a biscuit that is still hot inside, al- 
though its crust has become cool. In fact, this cold out- 
side part of the earth is generally called the earth^s crust. 

Cause of Mountains. — It was stated on page 19 that 
some parts of the earth have been raised to form mountain 




Fig. 102. 

Vesuvius, in Italy, sending out lava, ashes, 
and steam during an eruption some 
years ago. 




126 TRE EARTH AS A WHOLE 

ranges, while others have been lowered to form valleys. 
We are now ready to explain how this has happened. 

You have, perhaps, seen a blacksmith put a tire upon a 
wheel. He heats the tire so hot that it expands, and it is 
then easily placed over the wheel. But when the iron 
cools it shrinks, so that the tire then fits the wheel tightly. 
The hot interior of the earth is under- 
going a similar change, since every year 
it is slowly growing cooler, and, there- 
fore, shrinking or contracting. This al- 
lows the cool crust to settle ; but, being 
too large, it wrinkles, or puckers, causing 
the rocks to bend and break, and form- 
ing great mountain ranges and valleys. 

One sees something of the same kind in an 
\ apple that has become dry and wrinkled (Fig. 

An apple wrinkled -j^^gx jj. ^^^ ^^j^^ because some of the water 
through drying. -' 

beneath the tough skin has gone into the air as 

vapor ; thus the inside has been made smaller. The skin of the apple, 
like the crust of the earth, has then settled down and become wrinkled. 

Cause of Continents and Ocean Basins. — The mountains 
and valleys are not the largest wrinkles on the earth's 
surface. As the crust has settled, some portions have 
been lowered several miles further than others, and in 
these great depressions the waters have collected, forming 
the oceans^ which in places are four or five miles deep. 

Those great portions of earth's crust which rise above 
the oceau are called continents ; and the highest mountain 
peak upon them is fully eleven miles above the deepest 
part of the Ocean. 

Change in the Level of the Land. — The contracting of the earth 
has caused many changes, and is still causing them. Some parts of 



BEAT WITHIN THE EARTH 



127 



. the laud have risen out of the ocean, and other parts have sunk 
beneath it. Perhaps the place where you live, even though it be 
among the mountaius, was once below 
the ocean. This can be proved, in 
some places, by finding certain shells, 
called fossils, in the rocks. 

Ages ago these shells were parts of 
animals living in the ocean ; but on 
the death of their owners they became 
buried in the mud and lay there for 
centuries until the layers of mud be- 
came slowly hardened into rock. This 
was later lifted above the water, and 
then frost, rain, and rivers wore the 
upper layers away, bringing the fossils 
to light. 

We have already seen (page 2) how rock is changing to soil and 
being washed from the land into the ocean. We now learn that this 
settles upon the ocean bottom, hardens into rock, and then, perhaps, 
is lifted into the air. These changes are very slow, but they are going 
on all the time. Places once inhabited by men are now beneath the 
sea, and others where they now live have risen above it. 




Fig. 104. 

A rock containing many fossil 
shells. 



Review Questions. — (1) What is known about the tempera- 
ture of the earth below the surface? (2) What does that suggest? 
(3) What other proof of this conclusion is there? (4) What is a 
volcano? (5) What is the crust of the earth? (6) What happens as 
the interior cools? (7) Compare this with the drying of an apple. 
(8) How have the ocean basins and continents been formed? (9) What 
do fossils in the rocks prove ? 

Suggestions. — (1) Collect pictures of volcanoes. €f- earthquakes. 
Eead about some volcanic eruption. (2) Make a drawing of a vol- 
cano. (3) Dry an apple and notice the change. (4) Not all rocks 
contain fossils; but examine those in your section to find if they do. 
(5) If you live near a beach, notice how shells are covered by the 
sands. (6) If a mine were a mile deep, what would be the tempera^ 
tare at the bottom, if the average temperature at the surface is 45°. 

For References, see page 258. 





Fig. 105. — Land (on left-hand side) and water (on right-hand side) hemi- 
spheres. Hemisphere means half sphere ; that is, half the earth. 



V. THE CONTINENTS AND OCEANS 

Land and Water. — The greater part of the land is 
found in the northern hemisphere, the greater part of the 

water in the 
southern 
(Figs. 106 
and 112). 

It is possi- 
ble to divide 
the earth into 
halves, in one 
of which — 
the land hemi- 
sphere — near- 
ly all the land 
is situated, 
while in the 
other — the 
water hemi- 
sphere — there 
is very little 

land. This is 
Fig. 106. — The northern hemisphere, showing the laud , 

about the north pole, Eurasia in the eastern hemis^jhere, o wi n 

and America in the western. Fig. 105. 

128 




\P^ NORTH 
POLE 




THE CONTINENTS AND OCEANS 



129 



//^or//j Pole 



The Continents 

In Figure 106, or, better, on a globe, notice that two 
great masses of land extend from the north polar zone. 
One of these lies in the western hemisphere, and is the land 
on which we live ; the other is in the eastern hemisphere. 

North America. — The western land, which is better 
shown in Fig. 107, is broad near the north pole, and tapers 
down nearly to a 
point just north 
of the equator, 
having the form of 
a triangle. What 
is the name of 
this part ? 

Show where New 
York, Washington, 
and Chicago should 
be on this map. (See 
the map. Fig. 120.) 
Point also to your 
home. Find some 
rivers, mountains, pe- 
ninsulas, gulfs, and 
other forms of land 
and water. 




South Pole 

Fig. 107. 
The half of the sphere containing the New World. 



South America. 

— : South of North 
America, and connected with it by a long neck of land, 
the Isthmus of Panama, lies the continent of South 
America. The two continents together are called the 
two Americas, forming the New World which Columbus 
discovered (p. 111). Notice how much alike they are in 
shape ; draw triangles to show this. 



130 



THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 



Through what zones does North America extend? (See Fig. 98, 
p. 120.) South America ? Point to the places where there is snow all 
the time ; to the part where there is never any snow. Where must 
the Eskimo girl, Agoonack, one of the Seven Little Sisters, have 
lived? Read about the Eskimos on p. 192. 

Tell how the climate would change if you were to travel from the 
northern end of North America to the southern end of South America. 
What changes would you expect to find in the plants ? In the cloth- 
ing of people? Write a story about such a journey. 

On the opposite page are pictures of some of the wild animals of 
South America (Fig. 109). What wild animals live in North Amer- 
ica? Collect pictures of them. Have you ever seen any of them? 

Eurasia. — East of us, across the Atlantic Ocean, is the 
Old World (Figs. 108 and 113). More land is found 




SOUTH 

Fig. 108. — A hemisphere showing a part of Eurasia and Africa. 



MONKEY 




Fig. iOa. 
Some of the animals of Soutli America. 



132 



THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 



there than in the New World, and the largest mass of 
it is called Eurasia. 

The northern part of Eurasia is in the North Frigid 
zone, on the opposite side of the north pole from North 
America (Fig. 106), and extends a great distance east 
and west. Find for yourself how far south it reaches, 
and through what zones it passes. 

Long ago, before Columbus made his voyage to the 
New World, the most civilized people lived in Europe^ 
the western part of that great continent. 

The homes of Jeannette and Louise, two of the Seven Little Sisters, 
were in that country. If you have read the story, can you not tell 

something about 
each of them? 

The eastern 
part of the con- 
tinent is called 
Asia. 

Read in the 
"Seven Little Sis- 
ters" about Ge- 
mila, the child of 
the desert, and of 
Pen-tse, the Chinese 
girl, whose homes 
were in Asia. 

Europe is 
usually consid- 
ered one conti- 
nent and Asia 
another, al- 
though, as you 
can see from the maps, especially Fig. 106, they are not 




Fig. 110. 
The home of Jeannette among the Swiss mountains. 
Find other pictures of these mountains on pages 18 
and 2'5. 



THE CONTINENTS AND OCEANS 



133 



SO clearly separated as the other continents are. For this 
reason Europe and Asia are often called one continent, 
Eurasia, the name being made up of "Eur," from Europe, 
and "Asia." 

Point toward this continent. Walk toward it. Which is probably 
its warmest part? 

Africa. — South of Europe is the continent of Africa. 

Here lived the little dark girl, Manenko, one of the Seven Sisters, 
and this is the place the negroes came from. 




Fig. 111. 
The tiger, one of the wild animals of Africa and Asia. 



In what zones does Africa lie ? How does it compare 
with South America in temperature ? In shape ? In what 
direction would you start in order to go directly to 
Africa ? 

Australia. — South of Asia are many large islands called 
the East India Islands (Fig. 120). Find the zone in 
which they lie. Southeast of these is a large island 
known as the continent of Australia (Fig. 119). In what 
zones is it ? 



134 THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 

The Oceans 

The Arctic and Antarctic. — There seems to be a great 
deal of land ; but, as we have learned (p. 63), three- 
fourths of the earth is covered by ocean water. The 
water around the north pole (Fig. 106) is called the Arctic 
Ocean. Find it on a globe. 

There are many islands in this ocean, and the water between them 
is covered with ice. The climate is so cold that there are very few 
people, and no crops of any kind can be raised. Here the Eskimos 
live, hunting the polar bear, seal, and walrus to obtain meat for food, 
fur for clothing, and oil for fuel and light (see p. 192). 

Much less is known about the Antarctic Ocean (Fig. 
112), which surrounds the south pole, and in Avhich there 
is also a great deal of floating ice. 

The Atlantic. — Extending from the Arctic to the Ant- 
arctic is the Atlantic Ocean, having the Old World on the 
east and the New World on the west. This is the water 
that we cross in going to Europe, and many of the things 
we eat and wear are brought across it. Can you name 
some of them ? Find what continents the Atlantic 
bathes ? 

The Pacific. — The water west of North America is 
called the Pacific Ocean, which is the largest of all oceans, 
occupying more than one-third of the earth's surface. 
What continents does it bathe ? Walk toward it. 

The Indian. — There is still another great body of water 
called the Indian Ocean (Fig. 108). It lies south of 
India in Asia, and between Africa on one side and Aus- 
tralia and the East Indies on the other. 

The Ocean Bottom. — The depth of the ocean water 
varies considerably ; on the average it is a little over two 




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THE CONTINENTS AND OCEANS 



135 




Fig. 116. 
One of the deep-sea fish. 



miles, but in some places it is more than four miles deep. 
In this immense body of water are millions of animals, 
some of them, as the whale, shark, codfish, and seal, being 
of use to man. 

The bed of the ocean is mainly a great plain, where it 
is as dark as our darkest night, because the sunlight 
cannot pass 
through so 
much water. 
In conse- 
quence, the 
fish living 
there have 
little use for eyes, and some have none. 

The mud which covers the bottom is in many places 
made up of the shells of tiny animals, many of them 
even smaller than a pinhead. Some of the chalk used 
in schools was just such mud before it was raised to 
form rock layers on the dry land. 

Mountains in the Oceans. — While most of the bottom 
of the sea is a plain, some 
parts are not so level. Here 
and there are mountain peaks, 
and chains of islands, extend- 
ing above the sea far away 
from the continents. Many of 
these are portions" of mountain 
chains rising above the water ; 
but many, like the Hawaiian 
Islands, are volcanoes which 
have been built up by lava 
flowing from the interior of the earth (p. 125) 




Fig. 117. 

A piece of coral, with the polyps 
projecting from the hard coral 
like a bunch of flowers. 



136 



THE EARTH AS A WHOLE 




Fig. 118. 

A ring-like coral island, 
called an atoll, in the 
open ocean. 



Coral Islands. — In the oiDen ocean there is another 
interesting kind of island known as the coral island 
(Fig. 118). Some very tiny crea- 
tures, called coral polyps, build hard, 
limy coral, such as you have no 
doubt seen. Where the ocean water 
is warm, as in the torrid zone, these 
little animals live in immense num- 
bers, millions of them around a 
single island. 

Each polyp resembles a fully 
blossomed flower ; and they vary 
greatly in color, being white, pink, purple, red, yellow, 
brown, and many other colors. It is a truly beautiful 
sight to see them spread out in the water, looking like 
a flower garden in the sea (Fig. 117). 

When these coral animals die, the hard coral part re- 
mains. Then other polyps build upon these skeletons, 
and this is continued until the surface of the water is 
reached and coral islands are formed. 

Review Questions. — (1) Name the five continents, counting 
Eurasia as one. (2) Write their names. (3) Walk toward each of 
them. (4) Tell what you can about each. (5) Where is the Arctic 
Ocean ? The Antarctic ? (6) Tell something about the people and 
animals of the Arctic region. (7) What oceans touch North Amer- 
ica? (8) Name five oceans. Which is the largest? (9) What are 
the conditions on the ocean bottom ? (10) In what ways are islands 
in the open ocean formed? (11) How are coral islands made. 

Suggestions. — (1) Make an outline drawing of each of the 
continents. (2) Of each ocean. (3) Collect pictures of the animals, 
people, and scenery of the continents. (4) Write a story about one 
of the pictures. (5) Obtain pieces of ooral for the school collection. 

For Eeferences, see page 258. 



VI. MAPS 

The maps that have been thus far used are all hemi- 
spheres, and represent the earth as it would appear if 
we looked down upon it from above. Such maps are 
especially desirable because they call attention to the 
roundness of the earth ; but they are so difficult to make 
that it is customary to represent the earth on flat maps 
instead. 

In Figure 119 you can see the difference between the 
two. While the lower ones show the roundness of the 
earth, the upper two represent it as quite flat. Although 
they are unlike, the latter show the position of the land 
and the water quite as plainly as the former. Since this 
is true, and since it is much easier to make the flat maps, 
these will be the ones chiefly used hereafter in this book. 
But in studying flat maps one should always remember 
to think of the earth as round, and not as a flat surface. ^ 
Examine Figure 120 also.^ 

1 The teacher should see that this is done by frequent use of a globe. 
It is advisable to have one large globe and several small ones, so that each 
pupil may have one for frequent use. 

2 These maps (Figs. 119 and 120) should be carefully studied, the 
pupil following map questions given by the teacher to cover form, loca- 
tion, etc., of continents, oceans, and important places. 

137 



Paet III 
THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

I. TOPOGRAPHY 

How many girls and boys playing in the smooth, well- 
paved streets of New York, within sight of great, tall 
buildings of brick and stone, ever think of a time when 
these things were entirely unknown ? And yet, if we had 
a magic glass through which we might look at the site 
of our city as it appeared three centuries ago, what a 
strange sight would greet our eyes ! A beautiful island 
covered with thick forests. How green and dark and 
still it all seems! Even the waters are quiet and undis- 
turbed until suddenly a light birch canoe darts out from 
the shore. " Indians ? " we say, " real red Indians living 
on our island and paddling on our rivers ?" Yes, Indians 
who have never seen a white man. 

Xo one now living remembers the time when Indians dwelt here in 
villages, hunting wild animals for food, clothing, and shelter. But 
there are tliose still living who remember well that a large part of our 
city was once a dense wood. They recall too a time when much of 
the land on which the city stands did not look so flat as it does now. 

Look at the map and you will see how irregular the 
city of New York appears. It looks as if it had been cut 

Note. — Part III was prepared by a teacher in the New York 
City schools. 

139 



140 



THE CITY OF NEW YORK 



into several pieces and each piece separated by water 
from its fellows. First, there is a long, narrow body of 
land set between two rivers. This is the borough of 
Manhattan. North of this is a square-shaped piece called 

the borough of The 
Bronx. The river 
west of Manhattan 
and The Bronx is 
the Hudson, which, 
in this part of its 
course, is usually 
called the North 
River. It separates 
these two boroughs 
from New Jersey. 
To the east and 
south, separated 
from Manhattan by 
the East River and 
the Upper Bay, 
are the boroughs 
of Brooklyn and 
Queens. They are 
part of a large 
island (Long Island) 
stretching to the 
east. Still another 
island (Staten Is- 
land) forming part 
of the city lies southwest of Manhattan. This is the 
borough of Richmond. 

The North and East rivers meet at the southern end 




Fig. 123. 

A relief map of New York harbor and vicinity. 
(Modelled by E. E. Howell, Washington, D.C.) 



TOPOGRAPHY 141 

of Manhattan Island, flowing into the wonderful harbor 
we know as Upper New York Bay. Staten Island pro- 
tects the bay from storms of ocean on the south, and the 
borough of Brooklyn shuts it in on the east. 

Opposite New York are Jersey City, Hoboken, and Wee- 
hawken. The arms of the bay allow vessels to ascend 
the Passaic River through Newark Bay to Newark. 

So vast are the changes which have taken place since Hudson in 
his little vessel entered IvTew York Bay, he would hardly know the 
scene if he were to revisit it to-day. Hills from which Indians gazed 
in frightened wonder at Ms ships have disappeared, valleys where 
they hunted for game are filled, streams from which they fished are 
gone. In the parts of the city which have not been divided into lots 
and marked by streets, we may still see the land in much the same 
condition as the old Dutch farmers and traders knew it. 

In parts of Manhattan, especially above Thirtieth Street, 
the avenues and streets still follow the natural slope of the 
land. On the west, the surface of the island rises from 
the lower end of Riverside Park to the northern end of 
the island. In this section, going toward the north, are 
Washington Heights, Fort George (One Hundred and 
Ninety-sixth Street), Inwood (Two Hundred and Sev- 
enth Street), and the Kingsbridge Hills. 

Where the land could be easily graded, the surface of Manhattan 
has undergone such changes as in time will follow more and more in 
the other boroughs. Much of Battery Park is " made " ground, that 
is, it consists of earth dumped into the marshes along the shore in 
order to increase the amount of land. In the neighborhood of Ferry, 
Pearl, Water, and Front streets there was formerly a marsh, and the 
name Canal Street reminds us of the canal which once served as an 
outlet for the ponds and marshes in the interior of the island. 

In Richmond there is a ridge, in some places nearly 
four hundred feet high, extending along the island from 



142 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

northeast to southwest. In those parts of Brooklyn and 
Queens not yet levelled and graded the land lies in great 
rolling ridges, as it did in olden times. In The Bronx, 
the bluffs which the Bronx River divides unequally into 
an eastern and a western part, are in many places show- 
ing the changes caused by the use of the spade, pickaxe, 
and drill. These bluffs reach their highest points at 
Fordham and Van Cortlandt Park. 

Map Questions. — (1) Which is the largest borough? The 
smallest? (2) What county borders on The Bronx? (3) On what 
island are Brooklyn and Queens? (4) What boroughs border on 
New York Bay? On the East River? (5) Compare The Bronx 
with Richmond in area. (6) Name the boroughs in order of size. 
(7) What boroughs border on the ocean? 



II. THE LAND AND WATER FORMS 

You have all heard about the splendid harbor of New 
York. What is meant by a harbor ? What makes a 
harbor safe ? (Page 67.) What bodies of land shut in 
the harbor of New York ? 

Name three bays on the north shore of Queens. Where 
is Newark Bay ? Jamaica Bay ? What is the name of 
the strait through which ocean steamers must pass to reach 
New York harbor ? Some straits connect two bays or 
other larger bodies of water. Can you find such a strait 
near New York ? Why is the East River really a strait ? 
Why may not the Hudson be called a strait? Find all 
the straits that connect New York harbor with other 
bodies of water. Can you see any advantage in having so 
many entrances to one harbor ? 

What strait separates Richmond from New Jersey ? 
(^Kill was the word for strait used by the Dutch settlers 
of Manhattan.) Where is the Kill von KuU ? What 
separates Long Island from the mainland ? 

You have all been to Coney Island or to Rockaway Beach. Many 
of you have been in bathing there. What happens to the rolling 
waves when they reach the shore '? This explains why we call them 
breakers. You have heard people speak of surf-hathing. They mean 
bathing in the ocean w_here there are breakers. Much of the land along 
the southern shore of Brooklyn and Queens is low and sandy. In some 
places there are long, narrow strips of sandy beaches partly or entirely 
separated from the mainland. These are called sand reefs. The 
water behind a sand reef is quiet and shallow. It forms a kind of 
bay, but here it is called a lagoon. Coney Island and Rockaway are 
both sand reefs. 

143 



144 



THE CITY OF NEW YORK 



In the East River are Rikers, Wards, and Blackwells 
islands. These are all used by the city for public build- 
ings, such as houses for the shelter of poor people too old 
or too ill to work, and others for the punishment of those 
who have done wrong. In the Upper Bay are Ellis 




Fig. 124. 
The lake in Central Park. 

Island, where immigrants are received, and Bedloes 
Island, on which stands the statue of Liberty. Near the 
Battery is Governors Island, the property of the United 
States Government, used as a post for officers and soldiers 
of the United States army. In the Lower Bay is Swin- 



THE LAND AND WATER FORMS 145 

burn Island, ou which stands a hospital for people suffer- 
ing from disease, taken from incoming steamers. Here 
too is Hoffman Island, where those who have been ex- 
posed to contagious diseases are detained until all danger 
of others taking such diseases from them is past. 

Which of the boroughs are islands ? Name the waters surround- 
ing each borough. Find other islands in the Sound. Find two tiny 
islands in Staten Island Sound. 

Some of the large parks have pretty lakes in them. If you will 
visit one of these lakes you will see, on a very small scale, islands, 
bays, and straits. Here is a map of the lake at Seventy-second Street 
in Central Park. Point out a bay, a strait, an island, a cape, a 
peninsula. 

Some Saturday you might go to the Park, taking pencil and paper 
with you. Stand where you can get a good view of the entire lake, 
and then make a map of what you see. One boy who made such a 
map gave names to the different parts. For example, a tiny bay was 
called Holiday Bay, an island was named Candy Island, and a penin- 
sula was called Duckshead, because at the moment a duck went sail- 
ing past the point of land. 

Those of you who have been in Bronx Park may have seen the 
pretty stream of water that runs through it. This is the Bronx 
River in its widest part. In what direction does the Bronx flow ? 
How does the land slope ? Why is the Bronx widest near its mouth ? 
Does it pass any towns ? Name them. Find another stream near 
the Bronx. What is its name? Compare it with the Bronx. Why 
is it called a creek ? Find another creek on the border of Manhattan 
and one in the borough of Queens. Which of these is like a strait ? 
What larger streams can you point out ? 

The Hudson is one of the most beautiful rivers in the 
world. If you cannot sail upon it, perhaps you can go 
to the top of a high building in Manhattan and look 
across the river. For several miles above the Battery the 
shores are fringed with wharves, and the waters are fairly 
alive with moving boats. What name is given to this part 



146 



THE CITY OF NEW YORK 




Fig. 125. 

St. Paul's Church, where Washington worshipped. 
(Copyright by G. P. Hall & Son, N.Y., 1900.) 



of the Hudson ? 
As you turn 
your eyes north- 
ward, there are 
fewer boats to 
be seen and the 
shores begin to 
show rocks and 
trees. Still 
farther to the 
north the trees 
are thicker, the 
land becomes 
higher, and on 
the west bank, 
just opposite 
Fort Washing- 
ton, you see the 
great, steep, al- 
most vertical 
cliffs, wooded at 
the top, known 
the world over 
as the Palisades. 
This is just the 
beginning of 
thein. • They 
continue many 
miles to the 
north. 

While you are 
here, take a look 



THE LAND AND WATER FORMS 147 

far over the New Jersey shore. There you can see the 
only mountains that are very near to our city. What 
is their name ? These we call mountains, though, com- 
pared with the great mountains of the world, they are 
mere hills. Where is the highest land on Manhattan 
Island ? 



III. THE HARBOR AND THE WATER FRONT 

There is to-day but one city in the world that has a 
greater commerce than New York. And yet in 1800 
there were other cities in tlie United States which were 
far more important as business centres. That was before 
the building of the Erie Canal (1825). Soon after the 
canal was opened, New York became the greatest sea- 
port of our country. Can you tell the reason ? Since 
that time many railroads have been built and they now 
bring to New York from the West the greater part of the 
wheat, corn, and cattle that used to reach here by way of 
the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal. 

Why do most of the great railroads of the East centre 
in New York ? There are other cities along the Atlantic 
coast to which they might go. It is because New York is 
the best shipping point in the United States. The products 
brought here can be met at the very piers by the steamers 
that bear them away. Again, why do most of the steam- 
ship lines have their vessels sail to and from New York ? 
Because the products that they bring from foreign 
countries can in turn be loaded at the piers on the trains 
that take them to all parts of our country. 

The great vessels that plough the ocean can move 
only in deep water. In New York harbor the water is 
deep enough for the largest of them to lie close to the 
wharves. 

All kinds of vessels, large and small, must have protec- 

148 



THE HARBOR AND THE WATER FRONT 149 

tion from storms when in port. Here they find perfect 
safety. Why? (See page 57.) 

Depth of water and protection from danger, however, 
are not enough. There must be plenty of room on the 
wharves. Most cities are content with a single line of 
wharves. But the island of Manhattan alone has piers on 
three shores, not to speak of Brooklyn and Richmond. 
Thus we have depth of water, protection by land, and 
hundreds of wharves. Still the harbor would be of little 
use, were there not excellent means of entering it. A 
glance at the map will show how well provided New York 
harbor is with entrances and exits. By way of the Hud- 
son River and the Erie Canal, boats may go to Buffalo, 
from which city ships carry passengers and produce across 
the Great Lakes to the very heart of the United States. 
By way of the East River and Long Island Sound, boats 
may go to ports in nearby states or on to the north. By 
way of the Narrows, the smallest of the exits, boats may 
leave the harbor for the great ocean itself, and sail to the 
warm lands of the South or to the other side of the world. 

Before vessels are allowed to enter the harbor they must stop at the 
Quarantine Station on Staten Island, so that the doctors employed 
by the government may go aboard and see vphether any passengers are 
suffering from contagious diseases. 

In the harbor, one of the most delightful sights that greets the eyes 
of passengers is the great figure of Liberty, standing where she may 
best welcome them. Most of the great liners, flying flags of many 
nations, land on the New Jersey shore or on the west side of Man- 
hattan Island. On the decks of these are American tourists, return- 
ing from travels abroad, or strangers visiting our country. But 
most interesting of all are the great numbers of immigrants, most of 
whom arrive with but little money. These people are taken after- 
ward to Ellis Island where they are received by the officers of the 
government. There you may see olive-skinned Italians wearing ear- 



150 THE CITY OF NE]V YORK 

rings, and little Russian children with caps of fur even in summer. 
Fair-haired Norwegians and blue-eyed Germans, their faces glowing 
with health, likewise are gathered, waiting to he admitted to the 
United States. 

The ocean liners do not cany passengers alone. In 
their holds are cargoes from almost every country in 
Europe. After the people have been landed and their 
baggage examined and removed, the hatches of the vessels 
are opened and the work of unloading begins. A French 
liner may contain wine and silks, or she may have gloves, 
toys, and perfumery. An English steamer will perhaps 
bring linen made from Irish flax, and cotton goods manu- 
factured from the raw material that we have sent over 
there from our Southern States. Perhaps she will have a 
load of steel manufactures — knives, scissors, razors, nee- 
dles, etc. A German vessel may be laden with woollens, 
and possibly, like the French liner, she will be carrying 
many casks of wine. 

"When sailing day comes again for these vessels, how different the 
passengers and the cargo each carries ! Again among the passengers 
are some Americans making their trips to European cities, but instead 
of the foreign immigrants who throng the steerage gangway on the 
incoming steamers, are groups of prosperous, English-speaking people 
returning to visit their old homes on the other side of the ocean. 

We have seen that the goods received from England, 
Germany, and France are chiefly manufactured goods. 
Why should we not return similar goods to them ? These 
countries do not raise enough corn, wheat, and other grain, 
nor have they enough cattle to feed their people. We have 
more than enough of these products, so we return them 
in payment. We also manufacture some articles which 
they do not make, and these they are glad to receive. 



THE n ABB OR AND THE WATER FRONT 



151 



Can you now tell why we send wheat and oil (kerosene) 
to England and France, but not to Russia ? 

Great as is the amount of trade carried on by the regu- 
lar ocean steamships, most of the world's commerce is 
carried on by means of other vessels, which, though not 
so fine in appearance, are exceedingly important to mer- 
chants of all countries. You can see them constantly 
coming and going in the harbor of New York. They 




Fig. V2G. 
A scene at the docks near the Brooklyn Bridge on tlie Manhattan side. 

seldom lie on the west side, but as a rule are docked at 
the East River wharves, or just off Brooklyn. They are 
called merchant ships or freight steamers, and are known 
also as " tramp " steamers because they do not always 
sail between the same ports. From Brazil, China, Canada, 
Africa, Mexico, India, Central America, — from almost 
every corner of the globe, they come, bringing valuable 



152 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

cargoes, and depart with cargoes of American growth and 
manufacture. 

Here are long lines of men, each carrying a great bunch of bananas 
on his shoulder. Yonder are others throwing cocoanuts from the 
hold to a neighboring dock. In the air is swinging a huge crate 
filled with chattering monkeys, while the trunk of an elejihant is 
raised from the deck of the newly arrived steamer as if to ask 
" What strange place is this ? " The cries of a hundred noisy green 
parrots add to the confusion. On another dock near by lie heavy 
pieces of dark-looking wood which appear of little value. But if 
you could follow these rough logs until they reach the sawmill where 
they are cut into smaller pieces, and then watch them as they pass 
through the hands of skilled workmen, who fashion them into beauti- 
fully shaped chairs, and tables, and cabinets, and finally give them 
the brilliant polish that shows their rich, red color, you would scarcely 
wonder that such a cargo is a precious one. 

Some of the freight steamers may be seen off Staten 
Island- They have along their sides great pipes through 
which is being pumped the oil that is to light the homes 
of many nations. This oil comes all the way from Penn- 
sylvania without being carried by either boats or cars. 
Can you tell how it is brought ? 

Not all the regular ocean steamers, however, go to 
Europe. On the East River are the piers of many of the 
lines that sail along our coast to northern and southern 
ports, — Portland, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, 
Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, Galveston, and parts 
of Cuba and of other West Indian islands. 

Among the different kinds of vessels moving rapidly about the 
harbor are the graceful pleasure yachts of the wealthy, and strong, 
majestic war-ships that are always to be found near Brooklyn Navy 
Yard. There are also the ferries that carry thousands of people each 
morning to Manhattan from Brooklyn, Queens, Richmond, and New 
Jersey, and back again in the evening. 



THE HARBOR AND THE WATER FRONT 153 

Along both rivers are flat-looking floats on which are freight-cars 
loaded with a thousand things produced in the city. They are pushed 
on to these rafts at the railroad station, ferried across the rivers, and 
most of them are unloaded at the docks of Manhattan. The floats 
are carried along by smart little tugboats that tow, as well, many 
other craft, — the rafts loaded with bricks, or coal, or lumber, and 
the clumsy canal-boats from Buffalo or other parts of the state. The 
canal-boats after leaving the canals, have to depend upon these tugs 
to tow them to the city. The tugs are truly quite as important in 
their usefulness as the swift ocean greyhounds. Then there are 
excursion boats, all white, flags flying and busy paddles churning the 
water. They look quite large until some passing vessel with many 
covered decks, towers above them like a great white giant — one of the 
Sound steamers from Fall River or Newport. 

Review Questions. — (1) Through what waters would one 
pass in going from the Bronx River to Coney Island ? (2) Give the 
names of two regular lines of steamships flying the British flag; the 
German flag; the American flag; of one flying the French flag. 
(3) How can a ship enter New York from the Atlantic Ocean without 
sailing through the Narrows ? 



IV. STREETS AND AVENUES 

The visitor to New York might well be puzzled to find 
his way among some of the older streets of the city. At 
the southern end of Manhattan the streets turn and twist 
in every direction. Old Indian trails, or perhaps paths 
that led to the barns of early Dutch farmers, fixed the 
direction of the oldest streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. 

When we hear the names of some of these streets, we are reminded 
of the days of long ago. Maiden Lane, Stuyvesant Street, Beaver 
Street, tell something of the former history of Manhattan. Fulton, 
Washington, Adams, and Jay streets, in Brooklyn, speak of early 
history there. 

In the newer parts of the city the streets are laid out 
at right angles and for convenience many are numbered, 
and in arrangement are much like the streets of other 
modern cities. In the borough of Manhattan there are 
long streets running north and south, known as avenues. 
These are crossed by shorter streets which run from river 
to river. 

With the exception of Fifth Avenue, the avenues have 
lines of cars running along them, most of which are moved 
by electricity. At some of the cross-town streets these 
lines are crossed by other lines, the principal ones being 
those on Canal, Grand, Fourteenth, Twenty-third, Thirty- 
fourth, Forty-second, Fifty-ninth, and One Hundred and 
Twenty-fifth streets. 

Below Central Park, and especially below Union Square, 

154 



STBEETS AND AVENUES 



155 



lies the great business district of Manliattan. 
perhaps the most 
important of the 
avenues, runs 
through its cen- 
tral part. 



From early in 
the morning may be 
heard the rumble 
of heavy trucks 
from the wholesale 
houses, and the 
rattle of the lighter 
wagons from the re- 
tail shops, all help- 
ing to swell the 
traffic and increase 
the noise. Electric 
cars whose tracks 
occupy the greater 
part of the street, 
pass up and down 
unceasingly. Broad- 
way at its busiest 
hours is a scene of 
bewildering confu- 
sion. Policemen are 
stationed at certain 
crossings to halt the 
traffic at intervals 
in order to allow 
people on foot to 
cross the streets. 
Both sides of lower 



Broadway, 




Fig. 127. 

A scene in Broadway. (Copyrighted by Geo. P. Hall 
& Son, N.Y., 1900.) 



Broadway are lined with handsome office buildings, some of them the 
highest in the world, while farther up-town are the splendid stores. 



156 THE CITY OF NEW YOBK 

Fifth Avenue, almost exactly in the middle of Man- 
hattan Island, has been selected as the dividing line 
between the east and west sides of Manhattan. Streets 
from Fifth Avenue to the North River are called west, 
and those from Fifth Avenue to the East River are called 
east. Facing Central Park are some of the most magnifi- 
cent mansions of the world. The lower part of Fifth 
Avenue has some fine shops, and on both Madison and 
Fifth avenues are the homes of many wealthy people. 

East of Broadway at Twenty-third Street are Madison, 
Fourth, Lexington, Third, Second, and First avenues, and 
farther east at the widest part of the island are avenues 
A, B, C, and D. West of Fifth Avenue, the avenues are 
numbered to Thirteen. 

In Brooklyn the main business district includes the 
streets about the bridge. Williamsburg and Greenpoint, 
formerly separate divisions, are now included in this 
borough, and have their own centres of industry. The 
streets of Brooklyn are being constantly extended east 
and west to make room for new homes. Among Brook- 
lyn's boulevards is the Ocean Parkway, along which in 
the summer thousands of people ride direct to the sea- 
shore. 

The Bronx was once part of Westchester County. 
Numerous bridges now connect it with Manhattan, so 
that many of the streets which begin in Manhattan are 
continued north through The Bronx. Third Avenue is 
the main business street. 

The names of the old villages, formerly parts of The Bronx, are 
still kept in the names of the railroad stations. Mott Haven, Mel- 
rose, Morrisania, Tremont, Fordham, Williamsbridge, and Spnyten 
Duyvil are some of these. 



STREETS AND AVENUES 



157 



Transportation 

Queens and Richmond boroughs are as yet but partly 
developed. In going through the farms of these boroughs 
we could easily 
forget that we 
were in the cit3^ 
Yet there are 
many business 
centres. Long 
Island City, As- 
toria, Flushing, 
and Jamaica 
were formerly 
towns. Rich- 
mond (Staten 
Island) is most 
thickly popu- 
lated on its north 
shore, and is the 
centre of a large 
oil trade, as well 
as the terminus 
of a very impor- 
tant railroad. 

In each of the 
boroughs most 
of the people are carried on surface cars. In all the 
boroughs except Manhattan such roads are operated by 
overhead trolley, that is, the electric current is carried along 
a wire in the air. In Manhattan the electric cars are oper- 
ated by underground trolleys. There are besides, elevated 




Fig. 128. 
An elevated railway in New York. 



158 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

railroads run by electricity or steam, and in Manhattan 
there are tunnels as well. With all these ways of carrying 
passengers more means of travel are needed. 

In Manhattan there are elevated railroads, popularly known as 
" L " roads, on both the east and west sides. That on Ninth Avenue 
is the oldest, but the main west side route is Sixth Avenue. This 
joins the Ninth Avenue road at Fifty-third Street and continues as 
far north as One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, where it connects 
with a railroad for stations to the north. The east side lines are 
on Second and Third avenues. The Third Avenue " L " runs near 
the water front down town and winds among shipping offices and 
diug and tobacco houses and factories. Farther north, this line runs 
along the Bowery, once a jjleasant country road bordered by ex- 
tensive farms, now a collection of lodging-houses and cheap-looking 
shops. It continues to One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Street, where 
the cars cross into The Bronx and go as far as Bronx Park. The 
Second Avenue line runs through one of the most crowded districts in 
the world and joins the Third Avenue line at the Harlem River. 

At Forty-second Street and Madison Avenue is the 
Grand Central Station. From here run the New York 
Central railroad lines to the North and West, and the New 
York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad to the ICast. 

Many who live in Westchester County use these lines daily to go 
to Manhattan. They live in the suburbs, that is, in the districts near 
the city, and are therefore called suburban residents. 

A branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad 
runs along the Sound from One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Street 
to New Rochelle. Passengers from Boston for the South cross to 
Jersey City without changing cars. Large floats carry the cars down 
the East River around the Battery across to New Jersey. 

In Brooklyn there are elevated railroads to every part 
of the borough, some of which run part of the way on tlie 
surface. Brooklyn and Queens, The Bronx and Richmond 
are covered by a network of trolley lines, which also carry 
thousands daily to the central borough. 



STREETS AND AVENUES 



159 



The Long Island Railroad, which runs nearly the whole length of 
Long Island, has not only a heavy j^assenger traffic but it brings to 
the city carloads of farm produce, to help to feed the people. 

In Manhattan the tunnel, or subway, starts from the City Hall and 
runs north, dividing into two tunnels, one going to the extreme north 
of the island, and one under the Harlem River into the borough of 
The Bronx. 

We have seen that every day many thousands of people go to and 
depart fiom Manhattan. How do they cross the waters that surround 
the island ? Ferry-boats, bridges, and even tunnels are necessary for 
this purpose. 

People from Richmond and New Jersey must now cross to Man- 
hattan by boat. A tunnel is being constructed under the Hudson 
River, however, and plans are being made for another to run to 
Thirty-fourth street, Manhattan, connecting with the Long Island 
Railroad. Other tunnels also are being planned to connect Brooklyn 
and Queens with Manhattan. 

Besides the tunnels, there are bridges over the East 
and Harlem rivers. The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the 
most wonderful in the world. Every 
morning between the hours of seven 
and nine, and every evening from 
five to seven one may see a sight 
at the Manhattan end of this bridge 
that is not soon forgotten. Thou- 



SLjl 




Fig. 129. 

Brooklyn Bridge, between Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs. Across the 
East River are seen the lofty office buildings of lower Manhattan. 



160 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

sands of people whose daily work takes them to Man- 
hattan arrive on the overcrowded cars that follow one 
another closely. The station and nearby streets soon 
become densely packed with people making their way to 
their various places of business. In the evening the 
same overcrowded cars carry the thousands back to their 
homes. 

Farther up-town is a second bridge, the East River, or 
Williamsburg, Bridge, which extends from Broome Street 
to Brooklyn. A third, the Ravenswood Bridge, is now 
being constructed ; this will extend from Sixtieth Street 
to Queens, crossing Blackwells Island. 

The bridges over the Harlem River are much shorter. 
Going from east to west are the new First Avenue Bridge, 
the Railway Bridge at Second Avenue, the Harlem Bridge, 
the iron drawbridge at Third Avenue for general traffic, 
and the great drawbridge at Fourth Avenue over which 
all the railways centring in the Grand Central Station 
come and go. At Madison Avenue is the Mott Haven 
Bridge, and just above is the new Central Bridge 
(McComb's Dam Bridge), a handsome structure. Be- 
yond this are another railroad bridge, and High Bridge 
which carries water into Manhattan in large cast-iron 
pipes. Northwest of High Bridge is Washington Bridge, 
nearly half a mile long. At the end of the Harlem River 
is Kingsbridge. 

Manhattan is connected with Brooklyn and Queens by 
many lines of ferries. The ferries to Brooklyn are from 
Wall Street to Montague Street ; the Fulton Street Ferry ; 
from Roosevelt Street to Broadway ; from Catharine Street 
to Main Street ; from Grand Street to Broadway and Grand 
Street ; from Houston Street to Grand Street ; from Tenth 



STBE.ETS AND AVENUES 161 

Street and from Twenty-third Street to Greenpoint ; and 
from Twenty-third Street and from Forty-second Street to 
Broadway. To Queens are the ferries from James Slip 
and from Thirty-fourth Street to Long Island City ; from 
Ninety-second Street to Astoria; and from Ninety-ninth 
Street to College Point. 

On the Hudson River side are ferries from the Battery 
and from Liberty Street to the stations of the Central Rail- 
road of New Jersey and of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 
From Cortlandt Street, Desbrosses Street, and Twenty- 
third Street, and from Fulton Street in Brooklyn, are 
ferries to the Pennsylvania Railroad station. From Cham- 
bers Street and from Twenty-third Street, boats connect 
with the station of the Erie Railroad, while from Barclay 
Street and Christopher Street, boats run to the station of 
the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The 
West Shore Railroad connects with ferries to Forty-second 
Street and Franklin Street. Besides all the ferries of the 
great railroads, there are four others ; one from Fourteenth 
Street to Hoboken, one from Whitehall Street to Staten 
Island (Richmond), one to Governors Island and the 
other to the Statue of Liberty on Bedloes Island. 

Although there are many factories and business houses 
in the various boroughs, the greatest number of people 
are engaged in business at the southern end of Manhattan. 
The traffic north and south on Manhattan Island is, there- 
fore, especially great. Why? 



V. THE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY LIVE 

If we measure the amount of ground it covers, New 
York is the largest city in the world. If we count the 
number of people who live here, it is second only to Lon- 
don, England. The smallest borough is Manhattan, yet 
it contains more than half the people, while the largest 
of the boroughs. Queens, has, with the exception of Rich- 
mond, the smallest population. Queens lias about twice 
as many people as Richmond. The Bronx has almost as 
many as Queens and Richmond combined, while Brooklyn 
has nearly three times as many as all three ; yet Brook- 
lyn has nearly eight hundred thousand fewer people than 
Manhattan. All the boroughs combined cover over three 
hundred square miles and contain about three and a half 
million people. 

How many different occupations there must be to keep 
so many people busy, how many different materials to 
keep them all supplied ! Not only the wheat to make 
the bread, but the meat, the vegetables, the cotton, the 
wool, the silk, must be brought from farms and pastures 
hundreds and even thousands of miles away. 

We have already learned that much of the corn and wheat which 
comes to New York is sent to other places ; but with so large a popu- 
lation a great deal must be used in the city itself. Some of the silk 
and the wool must be kept to make into clothing, and so of every- 
thing that reaches the great city, a portion is retained. What is 
ready for use is sent at once to the stores to sell. Much material, 
however, must first pass through the hands of workmen. Thus 

162 



THE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY LIVE 163 

leather must be cut and sewed to be made into shoes; cotton must 
be woven into cloth; lumber must be changed into furniture ; and iron 
must be moulded, and cast into tools. 

In sailing along the river front, one sees hundreds of 
tall chimneys ; most of these belong to the factories where 
the raw, or " crude," material, as it is called, is changed 
into useful and beautiful objects. 

There are factories in all the boroughs, though most of 
them are in Manhattan and Brooklyn. In many parts of 
the city, not only are factories grouped together, but 
particular trades or occupations are found in the same 
neighborhood. Thus the financial, or money district, is 
around Wall and Broad streets. The wholesale jewelry 
district is on and near Maiden Lane. That for wholesale 
dry-goods is west of Broadway, from Chambers Street to 
Canal, while the leather district is near Frankfort, Pearl, 
and Ferry streets. 

Many of the factories are large, and hundi-eds of people are employed 
in them ; others occupy but two or three rooms, and need only a few 
workmen. Some factories make large objects, such as boilers or 
printing-presses, and there are yards where ships are built : others 
manufacture small articles, such as finger rings and penknives. 

Factories do not often sell many of their goods where they make 
them. Sometimes, if factories are very large, they have shops where 
people may buy small quantities. Generally, however, factories send 
their goods in large quantities to men called " wholesalers." These 
in turn sell to those who keep retail stores where we do most of our 
shopping. 

The wholesale establishments of New York are among 
the greatest in the world. The owners of retail shops in 
many other cities come here to buy their stocks. At 
certain seasons of the year the hotels are filled with 
people from all over the country and even from Canada, 



164 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

Mexico, and the West Indies, who come here for such 
purchases. 

Many of the retail shops are very beautiful. The 
largest of these, where one can buy almost anything he 
wants, are known as Department Stores. They are found 
chiefly on Broadway, Fourteenth and Twenty-third 
streets, and on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and in Brook- 
lyn, on or near Fulton Street. In one of the largest of the 
department stores thirty-five hundred people are employed. 

In some of the smaller stoves, but one line of goods is sold. Such 
are the places Avhere we go to buy our meat, our groceries, or our bread. 
How many of us when going to buy a pound of tea, think of the 
labor needed to bring it here ready for the table? The tea leaves 
were growing on a plant not very long ago. Chinamen gathered 
the tea and then sent it in chests down some river filled with count- 
less boats. It may have come by sailing-yessel or by steamer, and 
perhaps reached San Francisco a month ago. Then the chest, with 
hundreds of others, was carried in a wagon to the train. When it 
reached New Yoi'k it was first stored in a great warehouse. Then 
it was bought by wholesale tea merchants. They sold it to other 
dealers ; and before it reached the shop where you bought it, it 
passed through the hands of perhaps a dozen people. 

Can you tell the history of the siigar the grocer sells ? Learn all 
you can about the way in which it was prepared, and how it came 
here. 

So we might go to a great store and learn the story of the silk, or 
of the diamond that shines in its gold setting. Every one who has a 
share in making, selling, or delivering any of the thousands of things 
received here is paid for his work, and with the money so earned he 
buys things which he needs. Thus the people of the world are con- 
stantly engaged in making and exchanging goods of various kinds. 

Not everybody has goods to buy or sell. Some own land and liouses 
which they allow people to occupy for a time by paying rent. Many 
men make their living by selling things for other people ; a man who 
cannot himself rent or sell his house, often pays some one for finding 
him a tenant. Then there is the man called a contractor who agrees to 



THE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY LIVE 165 

do all of a piece of work for a certain sura. The contractor divides 
the work among the different kinds of laborers needed, paying- 
each his share, and keeping the rest for himself. Other men unite in 
forming companies and corporations, of which there are many kinds. 
Some, called banks, take care of people's money and lend money to 
people who pay for the use of it. Then there are insurance companies 
which agree to pay back the cost of houses that burn down, provided 
the owners pay the companies certain amounts for each year that 
their houses stand. 

Very often no one man has money enough to build large steamers 
or railroads or to start other great business undertakings ; then many 
men band together to bear the cost and share the pi'ofits. 

Most people have neither goods to sell nor money to invest. They 
are the class who sell their wo?'k. When the work is done by the hands 
only and does not require much thought or skill, the pay is usually 
small; such is the. case of the laborers who do the simpler work in 
building our cities. Those who have had training in various trades get 
better wages. Such workmen are necessary in every factory and work- 
shop. The mason, the carpenter, the mechanic, the printer, represent 
but Bf^very few of the many trades or occupations. Honesty and often 
courage, rather than special training, are the important requirements in 
many occupations, as for example those of the conductor, the motorman, 
the clerk, the policeman, and the fireman. In great business centres there 
is employment for both men and women that requires much intelligence 
and ability. The stenographer and the bookkeeper are of this class. 
But the work for which people are usually paid best is that which has 
reqiiired a great amount of special study and preparation. In this con- 
nection we may name the teacher, the architect, the lawyer, and the 
physician. 

The men w^ho work to earn money are the same men who pay 
some of that money to have other work done. No one is so skillful 
that he can do everything himself. We all work for others, and, in 
turn, others work for us. 

Even the man whose daily labor is breaking stones, and who never 
actually pays out money for any one to work for him, has, in reality, 
certain servants whose wages he must help to jiay. The servants 
whom nobody pays and yet whom everybody pays are people em- 
ployed and paid by the city. 



166 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

Review Questions. — (1) Name some of the principal things you 
eat, and tell where they come from, and how they are brought here. 
(2) Name some articles in your grocer's store that are made in New 
York. Some made outside of our country. (3) Can you tell how a 
ton of coal is brought from Pennsylvania to your home? (4) How 
many factories do you know about ? (5) Mention some of the raw 
materials used in them. (6) What trades were represented in build- 
ing your school ? 

At the head of the city government is the mayor, who 
appoints the heads of the different departments, such as 
public parks, ferries, and docks, and a number of others. 
The people elect also a comptroller for the whole city. 
It is his duty to see that the city's money is paid out only 
for lawful purposes. There is also a board of aldermen 
elected by the people. Besides these officials, each borough 
has a president who appoints the heads of the departments 
in his borough. These men, however, do not interfere in 
any way with the heads of the departments appointed by 
the mayor of the whole city. 

The presidents of the boroughs together with the 
mayor, the comptroller, and one other officer, compose a 
Board of Public Works, and decide all questions of public 
improvements, such as the paving of the streets and the 
making of public parks. There is another body, called 
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, composed of 
the mayor, the comptroller, and some other officers. This 
board decides how much money shall be spent each year 
by the city and how this money is to be divided among 
the different departments. 

You all know what kind of work is done by the firemen and the 
policemen. The firemen, while on duty, stay at the various fire 
stations and engine-houses, where they may hear any alarms sent in 
and instantly answer the calls for help. Some policemen patrol the 



THE PEOPLE AND HOW THEY LIVE 167 

streets to see that the laws of the city are enforced and to arrest any 
who break those laws. Others remain in the station-houses, so as to be 
ready to act at once in cases of riots or accidents. 

The work of the health inspectors and the street cleaners is as 
important as that of the firemen and the policemen. New York has 
a large number of men whose duty it is to remove the dirt from the 
streets with broom and shovel, and occasionally to wash the streets 
by letting water rush over them from the hydrants. 

Health inspectors are sent out by a body of men called the Board 
of Health, to visit houses in all parts of the city in order to see that 
everything is in a healthful condition. There are certain simple laws 
about drainage, and the removal of garbage, ashes, and like things, 
that every one should know and keep. 

In houses where sickness has occurred, the health inspector has the 
right to order that the place be disinfected, and in cases of some con- 
tagious diseases he must see that the sufferers are removed from among 
the well people. 

The homes of Manhattan are not for the wealthy or 
well-to-do alone. There are districts where the houses 
are so crowded with people that there are as many in a 
single block as in some towns. The rooms are small and 
often poorly lighted. These people usually work very 
hard, and do much for the prosperity of the city. 

Many of these have come from Europe. Of the thou- 
sands who arrive every week from abroad, many remain 
in New York because they have friends here. 

When an immigrant lands, he naturally wishes to go 
where the people understand his language and his way of 
living. But those who come from the British Isles can 
get along anywhere in this country. Why ? 

Many people have come from the southern countries of Europe, 
and they have often made little cities of their own in the midst of 
this great city. If you walk through the streets of these neighbor- 
hoods, you will hear the older men and women speaking strange 



168 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

words. Their clothing is different from yours and their little shops 
seem very odd to you. 

Most of the Norwegians and Swedes who come to this country go 
to the West. The foreign parts of New York City are uow^ made up 
of people mostly from southern and southeastern Europe. Man- 
hattan contains many such localities. In the district east of the 
Bowery, from Catharine Street to Houston Street, is a population 
greater than that of most American cities, composed almost entirely 
of Russian and Roumanian Jews. From Mulberry Park to Bleecker 
Street is a large Italian population. There is another large Italian 
colony south of Washington Square, one on the east side of Harlem, 
and one in the western part of The Bronx. 

There is a German and Hungarian district on the east side from 
Houston to Fourteenth streets. Even China is represented around 
the lower end of Mott Street. Brooklyn, too, has its foreign districts, 
the best known of which is " Brownsville." 

By what magic are all the children who come here, 
knowing nothing of our laws, customs, or language trans- 
formed into Americans ? Every few blocks you will see 
a handsome building with the flag of our country floating 
above the roof. It is a public school. Here it is that 
the wonderful change is largely accomplished. From the 
schools the children take home to their parents the lessons 
that give them hope for their own future and a love for 
their new country. 

If the boys and girls of the city would visit on Satur- 
daj^s and holidays the parks, the museums, and the great 
avenues, they would learn more of the beautiful city of 
which they see but a small part every day, and they 
would feel proud to be numbered among its citizens. 



VI. PLACES OF INTEREST 

Although land in the crowded portions of New York is 
very expensive, ground for parks has been bought by the 
city and the parks will be laid out from time to time as 
needed. Central Park, in Manhattan, is the principal 
public park in the city. It extends from Fifty-ninth 
Street to One Hundred and Tenth Street, and from Fifth 
Avenue to Eighth Avenue. It is noted for the beauty of 
its drives and walks, its lawns and gardens. 

Central Park has, too, tennis, baseball, and croquet grouiids. On 
the east side is a fine menagerie. Farther north there is the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art which contains a large collection of fine paint- 
ings and statuary. Near by is the Obelisk, thousands of years old, 
which was brought all the way from Egypt. West of the Park, in 
Manhattan Square, is the Museum of Natural History. Here we may- 
see articles belonging to people of every age and country, by which we 
can tell a great deal of their customs and habits. Here, too, are 
model specimens of birds and other animals. 

Prospect Park, in the borough of Brooklyn, is very 
beautiful. There is a fine arch at the entrance, built in 
memory of those who died in the Civil War. Near by is 
the Brooklyn Institute where there is a good collection 
of birds and other specimens belonging to the animal 
world. 

Van Cortlandt, Bronx, and Pelham Bay parks, in the 
borough of The Bronx, are connected by a fine boulevard. 
Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay parks on the northern 
boundary of the borough are in their wild state with the 

169 



170 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

exceptions of grounds which have been laid out for public 
games. 

Bronx Park is at the end of the Third Avenue Elevated 
railroad. Through it flows the Bronx River. 

Near the railroad station are the Botanical Gardens in which are 
many rare shrubs and flowers. There are two houses made of glass 
which are so high that tall trees can gi'ow in them. Here we may 
see bananas and pineapples growing as they do in tropical countries. 
The Zoological Gardens are to the south of the Botanical Gardens. 
The cages cover so much space that the animals can move about 
freely. This adds greatly to their comfort, and allows visitors to see 
them easily, and to form correct ideas about their habits. 

Near the Cathedral plateau, at One Hundred and Tenth 
Street, is Morningside Park. Above it are the new Cathe- 
dral, St. Luke's Hospital, and Columbia University. 

Riverside Park, which begins at Seventy-second Street, 
is a high terrace on the Hudson surmounted by a drive at 
the end of which is the tomb in which lie the remains of 
General Grant. On the drive is the new monument in 
memory of the soldiers and sailors who died for our 
country. 

Union Square, at Broadway and Fourteenth streets, and 
Madison Square at Broadway and Twenty-third streets, 
Washington Square, at the foot of Fifth Avenue, with its 
beautiful arch, and Bryant Park, on Forty-second Street, 
in which the new library is being built, are all on busy 
thoroughfares and offer convenient resting places for 
grown-up people and pleasant playgrounds for children. 

City Hall Park, near the lower end of Broadway, con- 
tains the City Hall, a simple but beautiful building, and 
the County Court House. Just below the Park is the 
Post Office. 



PLACES OF INTEREST 171 

There are many smaller parks in the city, most of them 
in Manhattan. Battery Park, at the southern end of the 
island, affords a splendid view of incoming ocean vessels ; 
in it is the Aquarium, which contains salt-water and 
fresh-water fishes from all parts of the world. 

In the very crowded parts of the city are the small parks which 
have done so much to improve the condition of the people in their 
neighborhoods. Such are Mulberry Bend Park, Tompkins Square, 
Seward Park, Stuyvesant Square, and East River Park. In common 
with the recreation piers on the riverside, they give much relief to 
the people during the hot weather. 

Every one should visit Cooper Union, established by 
Peter Cooper, at the northern end of the Bowery. In 
this building free evening classes in every variety of sub- 
ject are open to both men and women. The College of 
the City of New York, which will soon be removed to St. 
Nicholas Heights, and Columbia University, both for the 
instruction of young men, are in the northern part of 
Manhattan. The Normal College for young women is at 
Sixty-eighth Street and Park Avenue. New York Uni- 
versity is on University Heights on the Bronx side of the 
Harlem. 

Besides the public buildings on the islands of the East River, there 
are in all the boroughs many fine hospitals as well as institutions for 
the shelter and care of those who have lost their relatives and friends. 

In Brooklyn is the Navy Yard. After passing the 
sentry at the gate, one is no longer in New York City 
but on land belonging to the United States Government. 
Here one can generally see a ship being built or being 
made ready for a long cruise, while, opposite the Navy 
Yard, vessels of our Navy lying at anchor afford an in- 
teresting and attractive sight. 



172 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

In the borough of Richmond there is a pleasant home 
for old seamen known as "Sailors' Snug Harbor." 

At Fifty-first Street and Fifth Avenue is the Catholic 
Cathedral. On Broadway opposite Wall Street is old Trin- 
ity Church and at the corner of Fulton Street is St. 
Paul's. Both are surrounded by churchyards in which 
people have been buried for two centuries. There are 
many other fine churches in all the boroughs, especially 
in Manhattan and Brooklyn. 

To tell of all the monuments, the public buildings, and 
the magnificent residences of New York, would require a 
great deal of space. People who live in New York should 
know its attractions and visit them often. In this way 
we learn to become more and more proud of our city, not 
merely because of its wealth, its size, its population, but 
also because of its beauty, and its value to the nation as 
a centre of art and learning. 

Review Questions. — (1) What is the quickest route to Van 
Cortlandt Park from Twenty-third Street and Broadway? To Pros- 
pect Park from the Battery? (2) In a bicycle ride from the Brook- 
lyn Bridge to Coney Island, through what principal streets would 
you pass? (3) In sailing from Blackwells Island to the North River 
through what bodies of water would a vessel pass? (4) A passenger 
arriving at the Forty-second Street Station, from New England, desires 
to go South by the Pennsylvania Railroad. What car-line should he 
use to make connections? What is the quickest route from your 
school to the Battery? To Eighteenth Street and Sixth Avenue? 
To Pelham Bay Park ? To City Hall, Brooklyn ? To Staten Island ? 



VII. THE HISTORY OF OUR CITY 

We have learned that New York, like the rest of our 
country, was once the home of wild Indians. One day, 
nearly three hundred years ago, as some of them were 
standing on the shores of Manhattan Island, a little vessel 
came sailing into the bay. It was not very long before 
the white men and the red men came to an under- 
standing. When the captain of the ship, Henry Hudson, 
returned to the home of his employers in far-away Hol- 
land, he told them of the beautiful bay and of the furs 
which the Indians had to sell. 

Within a few years many Dutchmen came to the new 
country, and the Indians willingly exchanged valuable 
furs for the pretty, but cheap little gifts of the white 
men. Settlements were soon made in Brooklyn and Man- 
hattan, and then fair Dutch women and little Dutch boys 
and girls began to appear on the streets of the new town. 

The first governors whom the Dutch sent were not wise, and some- 
times they made the Indians angry. Once there was a fierce war in 
which some of the whites were tilled. To protect themselves, the 
people built a high wall across the northern end of the city, as the 
city then was, and though it was torn down some time afterward, 
the place has ever since been known as Wall Street. 

The people were not happy and often grumbled because 
the governor obliged them to pay taxes without giving 
them a chance to make any laws. They wanted to govern 
themselves. At last they were allowed to have a small 
share in their own government. Peter Stuyvesant, the old 

173 



174 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

governor, permitted some of tlieir number to become 
officers of the city. As time went on, the little town, 
which was called New Amsterdam in honor of a city in 
Holland, grew larger and richer. Slaves were brought in, 
fine houses were built, and villages were started beyond 
the wall. 

A little more than fifty years after Henry Hudson 
sailed into New York Bay, the English captured the city 
from the Dutch. Of course there were many changes. 
The city received a new name — New York — in honor of 
the English Duke of York, to whom his brother, King 
Charles, had given the land. 

New streets received English names. Greenwich, Chelsea, and 
Harlem are names that tell of the little villages that once flourished 
on Manhattan, just as do names that still cling to various parts of the 
other boroughs. Even to-day we find the American descendants of 
the old families, some of them bearing English names and some 
Dutch names. Many names that were originally Dutch have been 
changed to sound like English ones. 

The English held New York almost continually for one 
hundred and twenty years. By the end of that time the 
population was more English than Dutch. 

After its capture by the English, the growth of the city 
continued but slowly. As before, some of the people were 
constantly quarrelling among themselves and with the 
government. 

The English had had New York only twenty-five years when there 
was a great revolution in England which placed a new king on the 
throne. In New York the English governor was sent home and the 
government was taken by one of the merchants of the city. The feeling 
between the English and the Dutch was very bitter. Later, a new 
governor came over from England. 



THE HISTOBY OF OUB CITY 175 

Every American boy and girl has heard of the Battle 
of Lexington — of the struggle against England made 
by the colonists when the government tried to tax 
them unjustly. Like the old Dutch citizens of Stuy- 
vesant's time, the people again cried out for a share in 
the management of their own affairs. By this time the 
old feeling between the Dutch and the English had partly 
died out. There was instead a division throughout the 
colonies between those who supported the English at home, 
called Tories, and those who believed that everybody 
should strongly resist the injustice of the new laws. The 
latter were called Whigs. Fights between the soldiers 
and the Whigs were frequent. When the tax was laid on 
tea, the Whigs in New York followed the example of their 
party in Boston, and on its arrival here the tea was 
thrown into the water so as to make it impossible for 
people to buy any of it. 

The Whigs in New York did much to join the people 
together against the King who sent over ships loaded with 
soldiers. The people of the city now became more de- 
termined than ever. 

Under the leadership of the most active of their party — 
men who called themselves the Sons of Liberty — ^the 
Whigs took possession of the city. When Washington, 
who had been asked to take command of the American 
forces in Boston, passed through the city, great crowds 
gathered and wildly cheered him. 

In August of the year 1776 occurred the battle of 
Long Island. The famous Declaration of Independ- 
ence, which had been made at Philadelphia, July Fourth, 
had filled the people of the colonies with strong deter- 
mination. 



176 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

As the British fleet began to assemble in the Lower Bay, the 
American army prepared to meet them. Washington with the main 
part of his forces remained on Manhattan Island, but Brooklyn, where 
he expected the fight would occur, was fortified as strongly as possible. 
Nine thousand American soldiers occupied Brooklyn Heights. The 
entire American army consisted of nineteen thousand men, gathered 
from every part of the colonies, while the British under General 
Howe numbered thirty-one thousand, most of whom were soldiers of 
long experience. 

The British landed at Fort Hamilton, so the two armies faced each 
other. A fierce battle took place in which many Americans were 
killed, and a large number taken prisoners. What remained of their 
forces was pressed slowly back to the edge of the river. This battle 
discouraged the Americans greatly. At any moment the British 
might sail up the East River and completely surround them. Wash- 
ington at this time performed one of those wonderful movements 
which have made him so famous as a general. He directed that at 
night the camp-fires should be left burning. Then, while the British 
were waiting for the next sunrise to capture what was left of the 
army, he collected a fleet of boats of every kind, and the Americans 
safely crossed Over to Manhattan Island. Next morning when the 
British awoke, they had the entire place to themselves. 

On the 15th of August the British entered the city 
which then extended as far up-town as Chambers Street. 
Washington now had a position extending from One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Street to the Harlem River. 
As the British pressed on, the Americans retired to the 
high land in the northwestern part of the island, Wash- 
ington's headquarters being the Morris House (now the 
Jumel Mansion), near the present High Bridge. 

On the 16th a battle took place and though the British 
General Howe still remained in New York, the success of 
the Americans filled them with new hope and confidence. 

While Washington retired to the North, he still held 
Fort Washington. On November 16th the British in a 



THE HISTORY OF OUR CITY 177 

fierce attack captured it, together with some of the best 
men of our army and many guns and stores. This was 
one of the most serious losses of the whole war. 

From this time until November 25, 1783, the city was 
in the hands of the British. It was a time of great dis- 
tress among the people. Two fires destroyed a large por- 
tion of the city. In the horrible prison-ships to which 
prisoners of war were taken, it is said that over ten 
thousand died during these years. 

In City Hall Park you may see the excellent statue of Nathan 
Hale, — a young American officer who was executed as a spy when 
found within the British lines. His last words should be remem- 
bered by every American. " I only regret," said he, " that I have 
but one life to lose for my country." 

With the close of the American struggle for liberty 
begins the story of our nation. A new government was 
formed, and with one voice George Washington was chosen 
as its head. 

The honor of being the first capital of the new countr}' 
belongs to New York City. In front of the Subtreasury, 
on the corner of Broad and Wall streets, is a splendid 
statue of Washington. On this spot, in 1789, before the 
citizens of New York, he took the oath of ofiice as the 
first President of the United States. 

From this time the story of New York is one of pros- 
perity and success. In 1783 there were in the city 
twenty-three thousand people, and in 1810 that number 
had increased to ninety-five thousand. In 1807 the first 
successful steamboat, the Clermont, sailed up the Hudson 
River. Robert Fulton was its inventor, and his work did 
a great deal toward bringing about New York's wonder- 
ful prosperity. 



178 THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

We have already learned how great an influence the opening of the 
Erie Canal had in making New York the first city of the country. 
We should ever hold in honor the name of De Witt Clinton, first 
mayor of New York City, and afterward governor of New York State, 
for it was through his efforts, more than those of any other man, that 
the canal was opened. 

The railroads completed the work of the steamboat and the canal. 
The chances which they opened to the people were not neglected. 
The business men of New York have ever been noted for their share 
in building up the fame of their city and its people have ever been 
ready to contribute time, thought, and money to its welfare. 

The old city was confined, to tlie island of Manhattan. 
In 1873 a portion of the present borough of The Bronx 
was added, and in 1895 The Bronx was extended north- 
ward to Mount Vernon. In 1896 the legislature made 
the boundaries of the present city with its division into 
five boroughs. 

The first mayor of Greater New York was Robert Van 
Wyck, who took office on January 1, 1898. The second 
was Seth Low, who began his term January 1, 1902. 



FIRST BOOK OF 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

By RALPH S. TARR, 

Professor of Dynamic Geology and Physical Geography 
at Cornell University. 

12010. Illustrated. Half leather. $i.io, net. 



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physical geographies now in the field." — Educational Review. 

" No written description of the book can do justice to it. It will well 
repay personal examination." — New York Education. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 

WITH BRIEFER MENTION OF FOREIGN MINERAL PRODUCTS. 

By RALPH S. TARR, B.S., F.G.S.A., 

Assistant Professor of Geology at Cornell University. 

Second Edition. Revised. $3.50. 



COMMENTS. 

" I am more than pleased with your new ' Economic Geology of the United 
States.' An introduction to this subject, fully abreast of its recent progress, and 
especially adapted to American students and readers, has been a desideratum. The 
book is admirably suited for class use, and I shall adopt it as the text-book for instruc- 
tion in Economic Geology in Colorado College. It is essentially accurate, while 
written in a pleasant and popular style, and is one of the few books on practical 
geology that the general public is sure to pronounce readable. The large share of 
attention given to non-metallic resources is an especially valuable feature." — Francis 
W. Cragin, Professor of Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleoniology at Colorado 
College. 

"I have examined Professor R. S. Tarr's 'Economic Geology' with mucn 
pleasure. It fills a felt want. It will be found not only very helpful to students and 
teachers by furnishing the fundamental facts of the science, but it places within easy 
reach of the business man, the capitalist, and the statesman, fresh, reliable, and com- 
plete statistics of our national resources. The numerous tables bringing out in an 
analytic way the comparative resources and productiveness of our country and of 
different states, are a specially convenient and admirable feature. The work is pi 
interesting demonstration of the great public importance of the science of geology." 
— James E. Todd, State Geologist, South Dakota. 

" It is one of those books that is valuable for what it omits, and for the concise 
method of presenting its data. The American engineer has now the ability to acquire 
the latest knowledge of the theories, locations, and statistics of the leading American 
ore bodies at a glance. Were my course one of text-books, I should certainly use it, 
and I have already called the attention of my students to its value as a book of 
reference." — Edward H. Williams, Professor of Mining, Engitteering, and 
Geology at Lehigh University. 

" I have taken time for a careful examination of the work; and it gives me 
pleasure to say that it is very satisfactory. Regarded simply as a general treatise 
on Economic Geology, it is a distinct advance on anything that we had before; while 
(n its relations to the Economic deposits of this country it is almost a new creation 
and certainly supplies a want long and keenly felt by both teachers and general 
students. Its appearance was most timely in my case, and my class in Economic 
Geology are already using it as a text-book." — William O. Crosby, Assistant 
Professor of Structural and Economic Geology at the Massachusetts Institute oj 
Technology. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



Elementary Physical Geography* 



RALPH STOCKMAN TARR, B.&., F.G.S.A., 

Professoy of Dyna^nic Geology and Physical Geography at Cornell University I 
Author of " Economic Geology of the United States," etc. 

Fifth Edition, Revised. 12010. Cloth. $1.40 net. 



"There is an advanced and modernized phase of physical geography, how- 
ever, which the majority of the committee prefer to designate physiography, 
not because the name is important, but because it emphasizes a special and 
important phase of the subject and of its treatment. The scientific investi- 
gations of the last decade have made very important additions to the physio- 
graphic knowledge and methods of study. These are indeed so radical as 
to be properly regarded, perhaps, as revolutionary." 

"The majority of the Conference wish to impress upon the attention of the 
teachers the fact that there has been developed within the past decade a new 
and most important phase of the subject, and to urge that they hasten to 
acquaint themselves with it and bring it into the work of the school-room 
and of the field." — Report of Geography Conference to the Committee of Ten. 



The phenomenal rapidity with which Tarr's Elementary Physical Geography 
has been introduced into the best high schools of this country is a fact 
familiar to the school public. The reason should, by this time, be equally 
familiar — the existence of a field of school work in which, until the appearance 
of Tarr's book, there was not a single adequate or modern American text- 
book. That such a field did exist, is simply shown by the paragraphs reprinted 
above. The adoption of the book in such important high schools as those of 
Chicago, and the expressions of approval from representative New England 
schools, will indicate how well the field has been covered. 

Tarr's High School Geology, uniform with Elementary Physical Geo- 
graphy, has attained wide use since its publication in February. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 

NEW YORK. CHICAGO. SAN FRANCISCO. 



ELEMENTARY GEOLOGY. 



RALPH STOCKMAN TARR, B.S., F.G.S.A., 

Professor of Dynamic Geolog^y and Physical Geography at Cornell University; 
Author of "Economic Geology of the United States," etc. 



i2ino. Cloth. 486 pp. Price $1.40 net. 



COMMENTS OF THE PRESS. 

*' We do not remember to have noted a text-book of geology which 
seems to so go to the heart of the matter." — Phila. Evening Bulletin. 

"The author's style is clear, direct, and attractive. In short, he has 
done his work so well that we do not see how it could have been done 
better." — Journal of Pedagogy. 

" It is far in advance of all geological text-books, whether American 
or European, and it marks an epoch in scientific instruction." 

— The American Geologist. 

" The student is to be envied who can begin the study of this deeply 
interesting, fascinating subject with such an attractive help as this 
text-book." — Wooster Post-Graduate. 

"The Geology is admirably adapted for its purpose — that of a text- 
book." — Brooklyn Standard Union. 

" So admirable an exposition of the science as is found in this book 
must be welcomed both by instructors and students. The arrange- 
ment of facts is excellent, the presentation of theory intelligent and 
progressive, and the style exceedingly attractive." — N. Y. Tribune. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 



OCT 1 1903 



